The Green Dragon

When it comes to green energy, China has become the global leader. Here’s the latest example: Instead of spending hundreds of millions of dollars to build new highways, widen existing roads, dig subway tunnels, or construct expensive bridges, a clever Chinese company has developed a new futuristic bus design that could forever change public transportation.

Shenzhen-based Hashi Future Parking Equipment Company has created the 3D Express Coach, which can carry up to 1,400 passengers. Because this bus doesn’t take up any road space, it is expected to reduce traffic by as much as 30%. And get this: It could reduce China’s oil use by 860 million barrels a year.

How will China do this?

“The main innovation of the straddling bus is that it runs above cars and under overpasses. Its biggest strengths are saving road space, efficiency and high capacity,” said Chairman Song Youzhou.

This new bus looks like a subway train on stilts and is essentially a bus that straddles the highway. The upper level will carry passengers, while the lower level is essentially a tunnel that vehicles up to 6 1/2 feet tall can drive through.

Plus, these buses will be powered by a combination of electricity and solar energy. Still, they’ll be capable of reaching speeds of 40 miles per hour. Now, that may not sound fast to you, but it’s more than enough to zoom past the standstill traffic clogging most large Chinese highways.

These buses, as well as the first 25 miles of track, will cost an estimated $100 million. Does that sound expensive to you? Well, it isn’t because that is only 10% of what it would cost to build a similar length subway system.

This isn’t a futuristic pipe dream, either. The construction of the first 115 miles of track in Beijing has already been approved by the Chinese government, and will start later this year. These space-age buses should be running within two years.

China’s 3D Express Coach, which straddles the highway, could revolutionize public transportation.

China is serious about green energy. In 2009, a total of $34 billion was invested into green technology, which is more than any country in the world and almost double the $18 billion invested by the U.S. No wonder, so far this year, China has attracted more green energy financing than Europe and the U.S. combined.

Here’s the kicker: Nearly 15% of China’s $586 billion stimulus package has been earmarked for energy saving and green investments.

A big part of the reason is that the Chinese energy sector is primarily owned and operated by the government. That, combined with massive green energy incentives from the Chinese government, has turned China into the world’s green energy capital.

And the dollars pouring into Chinese green energy projects is going to keep growing. At the Copenhagen World Climate Conference, China vowed to cut its carbon emissions by 45% by 2020.

Here’s how the chief economist of International Energy Agency, Faith Bristol, put it: “I am following the energy policies of almost all the big countries of the world, and there is no other government which is as dynamic as the Chinese government in putting energy policies in place.”

Now, you can’t invest in innovators like Hashi Future Parking Equipment because it is a private company. However, there are loads of other Chinese “green” energy companies you can invest in — and many of them are listed right here on a U.S. stock market, like the New Stock Exchange or Nasdaq.

SOLAR ENERGY: When it comes to this sector, China is years ahead of the rest of the world. In fact, it already produces more solar panels than any country around the globe.

Fact: Of the world’s 10 largest photovoltaic cells makers in the world, five are Chinese, including #1 Suntech Power.

There are many Chinese solar companies to choose from. Besides Suntech Power (STP), there are also Trina Solar (TSL), First Solar (FSLR), MEMC (WFR), Sun Power (SPWRA), JA Solar (JAS0), LDK Solar (LDK), Rene Solar (SOL), Solarfun Power (SOLF), Canadian Solar (CSIQ), China Sunenergy (CSUN), Evergreen Solar (ESLR), and Yingli Green Energy (YGE).

BATTERY POWER: Hybrid and electric cars are definitely in our future — and China knows it. So does Warren Buffet, who now has a 10% stake in a Chinese battery company.

The country’s publicly traded battery companies include China BAK Battery (CBAK), BYD Corporation (BYDDF.PK), and Hong Kong Highpower Technology (HPJ).

WIND POWER: When it comes to wind power, China has a big cost advantage over U.S. companies. On average, a Chinese wind turbine engine costs 25% less than one from an American manufacturer. Maybe that’s why China produces more wind turbines than any country in the world.

Fact: One-third of all the wind power generated around the globe last year came from China. Yet only three years ago, China was ranked #10.

Most Chinese wind power companies are still private, but there are a few available to U.S. investors: A-Power Energy (APWR), China Longyuan Power (CLPXF.PK), and Dongfang Electric (1072.HK).

BIOFUELS: Most of the Asians I talked to think it’s crazy to turn perfectly edible corn into fuel. But that’s another story.

Remember that China operates under a series of five-year plans, and the most recent one calls for the production of biofuels to increase from 200,000 tons this year to 2,000,000 tons by 2020. In this sector, the two publicly traded Chinese options are Gushan Environmental Energy (GU) and China Integrated Energy (CBEH).

There is no shortage of options for investing in Chinese green energy.

As you can see, there is no shortage of options for investing in Chinese green energy! And this is just a short list of green energy stocks that are available on an U.S. exchange.

The number of opportunities — as well as the amount of money you can make — EXPLODES if you open your universe to stock exchanges in Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Seoul.

My experience is that most investors overlook — at their expense — foreign stocks listed on overseas markets. But it’s so simple and so easy (and so inexpensive) to invest in foreign markets that there isn’t any excuse not to.

Look. This is 2010, and thanks to the Internet and growth of deep discount international brokers, like Boom Securities (www.boom.com), there isn’t any reason that you shouldn’t be adding more international spice to your stock portfolio.

Best wishes,

Tony

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