Buffett Goes Long Battery

Buffett Goes Long Battery

As we all know, he loves making money. And he's good at it.

He also loves the cleantech market for all the ophelimity it brings.

It's no secret clean energy is big business. I've heard more than once that Buffett's MidAmerican Energy Holdings generates more wind power than any other regulated utility. But it's hard to tell, since megawatts (and profits) are added every day.

So, it shouldn't be big news — or surprising news — that The Oracle is interested in other segments of alternative energy. That's why I was somewhat shocked to see Buffett in the headlines of major news outlets this week as they touted his "new" interest in batteries.

I've been telling you the battery market — and energy storage in general — is heating up in a big way. And I've known about Buffett's "new" interest in batteries since 2008.

A Buffett Battery Buffet

In fact, it was last September when MidAmerican took a 10% stake in BYD (Build Your Dreams), a Chinese dell laptop battery such as dell Inspiron E1705 battery, dell Inspiron 6000 battery(dell 6000 battery), dell Inspiron 9300 battery, dell Inspiron 9400 battery, dell 310-6321 battery, dell 310-6322 battery, dell D5318 battery, dell G5260 battery, dell G5266 battery and dell Latitude CPi battery and auto maker. I recommended it to readers of Green Chip International on the December dip.

Up 188% and running. The Dow's down about 30% for the same time frame.

Why? Because BYD is doing what American carmakers failed to: focus on efficiency and hybridization early.

Any company can make a car. Only a few are successfully making hybrids. And you can see where investors think the future will be.

But really, BYD's success has more to do with its battery than anything else. The battery is the keystone of the entire hybrid market, and the Achilles heel of the Chevy Volt, among others. It's easy to form sheet metal into a sedan.