Opportunities Abound In Small Cap Green Technology

With a flip of a switch, one New York State school figured out a way to save $2 trillion.

A recent study from the Smart Lighting Center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) found that if all the world's light bulbs were replaced with new, super energy efficient, light emitting diode (LED) bulbs for a period of ten years, it would save nations close to $2 trillion in energy costs by reducing the need to burn almost one billion barrels of oil. The decline in oil consumption would reduce global carbon dioxide emissions by 10.68 gigatons.

For reference, that $2 trillion is $400 billion MORE than the United States Federal budget for 2010.

To put it another way - if over the same 10 year timeframe wind energy production increased at its current rate only 1 gigaton would be shaved off of carbon emissions. Right now in the U.S., wind energy accounts for only 1 percent of our electricity use - solar is even further behind at a paltry 0.1 percent.

All by itself, LED lighting could eliminate the need for 280 power plants globally and lower crude oil consumption by 962 million barrels, the RPI researchers concluded.

When you factor in the savings that would accrue from using more insulation and passive solar heating, combined with other efficiency measures, it becomes possible to imagine a world where buildings are almost carbon free. Currently, buildings account for 40 percent of all energy consumed. If the appropriate efficiency measures are taken, buildings in the U.S could use about as much electricity as it takes to run a hair dryer on a per-building basis.

LED lighting is the most significant development in electric light technology since the invention of electric light well over a century ago.

The lighting industry is in the midst of a seismic shift towards LED products. According to Digitimes Research, despite the ongoing decline in housing and non-residential construction, the demand for LED products continues to increase double digits year-over-year. More importantly, the mandated phase out of incandescent light bulbs begins in 2012, a catalyst that should significantly boost demand for LEDs.  

Digitimes research also concludes that "the LED market will increase to $12.6 billion in 2011, up 53% from $8.25 billion in 2010". The overall use of LEDs is expected to grow to 12.4 billion units in 2011 from 4.8 billion the year prior.

Given the overwhelming growth statistics of the LED lighting industry I am immediately inclined to look for profitable opportunities within the small cap arena.

Opportunities are abound as nations decide to impose legislation to turn off incandescent lights and move towards the more economically and environmentally friendly LEDs.

For now, I am really excited about small cap opportunities within the LED lighting space. I have come across several small cap growth companies that are at the forefront of the industry.

This shift creates fantastic opportunities for small companies in the LED sector. After all, with $2 trillion in savings on the table, there's a huge incentive for every consumer on the planet to make the switch. There's also a huge incentive for investors to snap up shares in companies developing LED lighting technology.

I currently have 5 small cap LED companies on my radar and I'll be fleshing out my research on these companies in the next couple of days. Stay tuned, I'll let you know my favorite way to play the LED trend sometime next week.