http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/opinion/what-mining-need...

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/opinion/what-mining-needs-is-long-term-policy-but-dont-hold-your-breath/story-fnciihm9-1226691056256

There may even be some bright news in the "clean and green" sector. Peter Strachan at StockAnalysis agrees the sector has been a disappointment. Anyone who put money into geothermal shares will groan in agreement. Ditto carbon sequestration. Dare we mention biofuels or new engine technologies?

But Strachan says he has found a couple of tryers that could have a meaningful future, if they were adequately capitalised. Note the "if". He cites Enviromission (EVM), which is working on a 1km-high solar chimney aimed to proving baseload power. It aims to overcome the big drawback with solar, the problem of storing power. Strachan likes the battery technology developed by Redflow (RFX), but believes it's a business better stitched into a larger operation running power grids.

One interesting opportunity he sees is BluGlass (BGL) which is using 15 years of research at Macquarie University to develop semiconductor materials for light emitting diodes and solar cells. LEDs now represent 5 per cent of the general lighting market.

Strachan is keeping an eye on Ceramic Fuel Cells (CFU) although its technology is not yet cheap enough for general use. CFU will at some stage need a good deal more money; in the meantime, investor returns are likely to remain elusive.