The emerging Alternative Energy City is............Houston??

I was as surprised as you were if you read Tuesday's Wall Street Journal Energy Report article on Houston becoming a leading alternative energy city.

Basically, the article describes how Houston has all the necessary ingredients to become to alternative energy what Boston is to Biotech. First - Houston has the major corporations to invest in and nurture the energy startups. It already has a number of emerging technology companies spanning the green energy spectrum - from Horizon Wind Energy to a number of biofuel players. The Houston area's universities provide the research expertise while green friendly government regulations and availability of specialized law and investment firms provide the support structure that is necessary for a flourishing technology hub.

People often wonder why Pittsburgh cannot become a major player in biotech, well, we have two powerhouse universities and a top notch medical center (U. of Pitt Med Center) but the industry does not have enough support from the major corporations or the local investment capital required to grow Pittsburgh from a mid to a top tier biotechnology cluster.

Anyways, I digress. If you look at the following highlights from the WSJ article, its pretty clear that Houston is on its way. In the future, when "H-town" is the topic of conversation, will we think of alternative energy before we think of the oil industry, "Kenny Boy" Lay and the Enron debacle, or the ridiculous number of sprawling highways and strip clubs? Maybe not, but if only a small number of these energy ventures pan out it would go a long way in making Houston a true "clutch city."

From WSJ:

• BIG COMPANIES

Oil giants like Royal Dutch Shell, which has about 50 full-time Houston employees working in hydrogen and wind energy, house some of their U.S. alternative energy divisions in the city. GE bases its coal-gasification team in Houston, with 160 workers who specialize in new-product development and engineering. The industrial giant also houses major work in its burgeoning alternative-energy division elsewhere, such as in Schenectady, NY.

• EMERGING PLAYERS

From its headquarters in downtown Houston, Horizon Wind Energy is building new sites around the country and expects to have 1,350 megawatts on line by the end of 2007. The seven-year-old company, formerly known as Zilkha Renewable Energy, was bought by Goldman Sachs in 2005 and is reportedly up for sale. The Houston region is a popular venue for new biodiesel facilities. Besides the Galveston Bay Biodiesel site, which is partially owned by Chevron, and a pair of new sites in the Houston Ship Channel, Imperial Petroleum Recovery is building a site 35 miles north of the city.

• FINANCE

Leading law firms and energy financiers like Baker Botts have stationed alternative-energy experts in Houston. The city is also home to Standard Renewable Energy Group, an alternative-energy investment firm that is backing a variety of projects, including Trulite Inc., a company that develops electric generators that run on hydrogen. Standard Renewable is led by former Enron trader John Berger.

• RESEARCH

Scientists at Rice University are hard at work on a variety of innovations in power delivery, biodiesel, hydrogen and other areas. The university hopes to garner more direct financial support soon from major oil companies. With a staff of 45 researchers and administrators, the nonprofit Houston Advanced Research Center in the Woodlands houses a 3,000-squarefoot life-sciences laboratory and works with other consortia on biofuels and hydrogen technology.

• GOVERNMENT SUPPORT

Though some in the research community say more aggressive action is needed to keep up with other states, wind energy and biodiesel-industry players praise Texas' comparative support of new energy facilities. Houston's mayor, former Deputy Secretary of Energy Bill White, has pointed to alternative energy as a major priority and pursued a variety of initiatives to ensure that more of the city's power comes from renewable sources.