Earth, Wind and Fire: The Coming Alternative Energy Boom and What It Means for Smart Land Investors (Hint: Think Money)

Today’s issue is probably going to ruffle some feathers, and here’s the reason:

This country has been sitting on its hands for the past decade or so (probably longer) with regards to developing sources of alternative energy.

Instead, we’ve been sucking down oil as fast as it can be produced.

I’m not really a conspiracy theorist, but as we all know, there’s a lot of money in oil. And I’m sure that the folks at the top aren’t really interested in anyone messing with their revenue.

But the winds of change are blowing anyway… literally. They’re blowing from investors in this country, and they’re blowing from investors outside of this country. In places like Canada, China and Spain.

These investors are ready to usher in the NEXT big thing… and that is alternative energy in the form of solar and wind power.

Unfortunately for big oil, the change is coming whether they like it or not.

For the land investor of course, all of this means opportunity. Change ALWAYS means opportunity. All you have to do is keep your eye on all of the bouncing balls and get a smart strategy to transform the opportunity into money.

So let’s jump in…

“Massive Solar Complex
Planned Near Kingman”

That’s the headline that appeared in the Kingman (AZ) Daily Miner on Tuesday.

Here’s a quote:

“Albiasa Corporation, the American subsidiary of the Madrid-based Albiasa Solar renewable energy company, on Monday unveiled its plan to build a $1 billion, 200-megawatt solar power plant near Kingman over the next three years.”

“Once the plant is fully operational, … it should produce at least 665,000 megawatt-hours of electricity annually; enough to power roughly 60,000 homes. The plant will generate the power through a process called concentrating solar power, or CSP.”

Here’s the link to the entire article:

Read the article…

Before we get into what all of this means for the savvy land investor, here’s another one…

“Boulder City OKs Terms of $100
Million Solar Plant Lease”

That’s the headline from an April 15 article in the Las Vegas Daily Sun.

Here’s the gist:

“The city could realize about $100 million in revenue over 40 years under the terms of an agreement for a solar energy plant that would fill the final available parcel in the city’s energy park in the Eldorado Valley.”

Just in case you don’t know, Boulder City is about 90 miles from Kingman AZ and approximately 40 miles from White Hills AZ, which we talked about in a previous Dirt Report issue.

Here’s the link to the full article:

Read the article…

What the Alternative Energy Boom Means
for the Smart Land Investor

So why would a land investor care about solar energy?

Here’s why:

“Invest in the path of growth…” That’s the idea that comes up in pretty much every issue of the Dirt Report, right?

So what kind of growth is stimulated by a new solar field in the middle of the desert of Arizona or Nevada?

Well let’s think through this:

Building a solar field requires workers…

When you hire workers, you create jobs…

But to house those workers, you need to build homes…

To build homes, you need builders…

And what tends to happen to land values when builders start buying land?

And what kind of profits can be made when those builders buy the land from smart investors who already OWN it?

It’s pretty easy to see the cycle here. It’s all a big web… and a pretty amazing chain reaction.

But it all begins with someone deciding to make an investment in SOMETHING to get the ball rolling. And in this case, the SOMETHING is the development of infrastructure to deliver alternative energy.

But the Winds of Change Are
Even Stronger Than That

Now so far, we’ve talked about big developments in alternative energy that are ALREADY happening.

Solar field building projects that are already getting off the ground.

But now let’s talk about something that’ll really knock your socks off.

It’s still in development, but it’s something that very well could revolutionize the way we generate power.

It’s called a MagLev Wind Turbine.

Take a look at this video explaining a bit how it works:

If you have trouble viewing the video, click here to view it online.

Up ’till now, wind energy has been criticized for its relatively low output and lack of reliability.

After all, it would take about 1,000 standard wind mills (and 64,000 acres of land) to power about 500,000 homes for a year.

64,000 acres is a LOT of land. About 100 square miles of land FILLED with wind mills.

But the MagLev technology is a completely different story.

ONE MagLev wind turbine can power about 750,000 homes and only takes about 100 acres of land.

Oh yeah, and they last for about 500 years.

You can read all about them here:

Read about MagLev…

PLUS… There’s a LOT of Money Behind
the Coming Alternative Energy Boom

If the articles I’ve highlighted above tell you anything, it’s that there’s a lot of money behind the big push for alternative energy. Actually, “a LOT” is probably a bit of an understatement.

Who’s pouring money into what looks like a coming alternative energy boom?

U.S. investors…

International investors…

And the U.S. Government…

Just this week, President Obama made a stop at a wind plant in Iowa, about 30 miles from Des Moines.

During his speech, he called for a new era of energy exploration in the US…

And he explained that, “the nation that leads the world in creating new sources of clean energy will be the nation that leads the 21st century global economy.”

Those are powerful words of course, but it looks as though he’s gonna actually put his money where his mouth is and help FUND some of this.

And he’s not alone. Heck, I even know of big land buys that are happening for land that is pretty much useless as far as an investment goes…

Except for one thing… it’s where the WIND blows. (More about this in an upcoming issue.)

The change to alternative energy IS coming. And it can mean huge opportunity for savvy land investors.

The question is, “Will you be prepared to profit from the opportunity?”

There’s a lot more coming about this… so stay tuned!