In this issue:

Though China is hardly the sole contributor to global warming it’s now by far the biggest culprit, and hopes that the situation can be saved hinge largely on whether China can wean itself from coal. That imperative, and the much more immediate threat of dire air pollution in the Chinese heartland, explain Beijing’s enthusiastic embrace of domestic solar power of late.

Given the pace of constant incremental improvement in solar technology, and money poured into the sector based on hopes for more of the same, it’s little wonder solar is on pace to surpass the much larger current output of wind energy by the end of the decade.

The lead story in this issue describes the recent growth of all the major renewable power sectors. The next piece recommends a fast-growing Chinese solar manufacturer and developer, along with a US ethanol producer that’s also crushing it while the sun shines. Finally, we have a portfolio update on a recent fossil fuels play that’s also done well.

One mode of energy isn’t inherently better or worse than another. What’s better is to produce energy as efficiently as possible without irreparably poisoning the well or ruining the atmosphere. And that will require a variety of technologies.   

Portfolio Action Summary

• Jinko Solar (NYSE: JKS) added to the Aggressive Portfolio. Buy below $32

• Pacific Ethanol (NASDAQ: PEIX) added to the Aggressive Portfolio. Buy below $18

• SemGroup (NYSE: SEMG) buy limit increased from $75 to $82 in the Growth Portfolio

Commodity Update

Libya’s government announced an agreement with a regional militia to resume crude oil exports from two terminals that have been shut down for nearly a year. Reopening the terminals could boost the country’s crude exports by about 500,000 barrels per day. Concerns that Iraq’s oil production will be disrupted by the ISIS campaign against the government in Baghdad are also easing. Both of these factors led to declines in crude oil prices since our previous issue. Over the past two weeks the front-month contract for West Texas Intermediate (WTI) declined $2.89 per barrel (bbl) to $103.49/bbl, while Brent declined $5.92 at $108.85. The Brent-WTI spread is now $5.36/bbl. Cooler weather in parts of the US spurred expectations of lower utility demand for natural gas, causing the front-month natural gas contract to fall to $4.21 per million British thermal units (MMBtu), down $0.30/MMBtu from two weeks ago but still $0.56/MMBtu higher than a year ago. Natural gas in storage remains 29 percent below the five-year average for this time of year, and 26 percent below the level at this time last year.

In Other News

• Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE) became the second company behind Cheniere Energy (NYSE: LNG) to win approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for a  liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal. Sempra’s Cameron LNG facility is to based on the Gulf Coast in Louisiana

• Crude oil futures fell to the lowest level in a month as Libya prepared to resume oil exports and Iraqi production remained unaffected by the fighting

• Golden Pass LNG, a joint venture between ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) and Qatar Petroleum International, requested FERC approval for an LNG export terminal near the Louisiana-Texas border

• Natural gas prices tumbled as cooler weather settled over the US Midwest and Northeast, promising to temper fuel demand from utilities in the short term

• US consumers paid the highest average price average July 4 holiday price for gasoline since 2008