Not Your Grandfather’s Energy Stocks: Waste Management, Inc. (WM), Solazyme Inc (SZYM), EnerNOC, Inc. (ENOC)

I am having a very spiritual week.  I have attended several events that have a ‘Love thy neighbor’ tone this week.   I admire those around me who can truly live this mantra and hope to strive for world peace on an ongoing basis.   In an effort to apply these lessons to my everyday life right away, here are some stocks I see as feeding the soul more than others.

Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) – Yes, I know this is a garbage company, but they are really that and so much more.  They have developed a way to turn garbage into energy.  Magic.  Well not exactly, but considering the garbage has been cast aside to rot in a landfill anyway, it might as well be put to some use and this is just the idea on which they are capitalizing.  Garbage as a resource is also not something our modern world seems to be running short on either, so if we use it to heat our homes, we can be assured of a fuel supply for many years to come.  They have also modified their garbage collection trucks to run on fuel they produce at their plants.  Win-Win-Win.  My husband recently attended their sponsored golf tournament in Scottsdale Arizona, which was a zero waste event – meaning that there was only compost and recycling.  No Garbage.  This sounds like a great idea, but it is a challenge to discard plastic waste when you buy a souvenir and need to get it signed by the famous golfers …  Now back to the stock.  The stock price does not go anywhere fast.  Since August 2009 it is only up about 30%, but it does offer a 4% divided to keep you interested.

Solazyme Inc (NASDAQ:SZYM)– This is a very interesting company.  The actually make all kinds of oil from special genetically modified algae.  This means that eventually when we do run out of oil deposits, Solazyme Inc (NASDAQ:SZYM) will be there to supply the fuel of the future.  Their current issues are having the infrastructure to produce enough to meet the oil demands of the future at the price at which they currently produce oil.  The company is currently expanding their operations and, thus, has accepted new money invested in the company.  This has diluted the shares and scared off some investors so the stock is selling at over 30% less than a year ago.   They have recently started selling their products at Propel Fuels, which has 34 locations on the West Coast of the US.