We are still not quite sure if our Alternative Energy Blog is worth the effort, but we seem to have launched just as the phrase is leaping out from every news stand, with the Washington Post and The Economist both leading with the topic. I’ve no doubt that this is a really booming area.

I’m finding the subject interesting - and learning loads as I go along. It feels good to be writing about a topical news subject, with a mass of material. I don’t have to hunt for stories. But the economics of a blog are a bit airy-fairy. If it does well in Google, it could become a valuable property that somebody might want to buy - but that is going to take a while. In the meantime, it’s hard to earn enough ad revenues to pay somebody else to write it. You need to get several thousand visitors a day to make anything like real money. Still, with clicks at about 20 cents + a pop in alternative energy, it’s easier than some subjects to make some pennies. If it does well, there may be some value in credibility. We’ll see. For the minute, it’s a bit of a whim.