Photo: Ian Muttoo, Creative Commons, Flickr
If you’re looking for a way to profit from clean energy, look to buy the companies that are filing the most clean energy patents. According to a study by an intellectual property law firm in Albany, Heslin Rothenberg Farley & Mesiti P.C., the top spots were taken by Honda Motor Company (HMC – $34.78), followed by General Electric (GE – $29.12) and General Motors (GM – $15.61).

Interestingly, most of the clean energy patents are being filed by automobile companies and not energy companies.

Of the list, I like GE and Honda the best. Honda has one of the world’s most innovative research departments and a very low P/E of 10 that reflects fears about a U.S. slowdown. Honda is also the Japanese auto manufacturer most dependent on the U.S. market.
Disclosure: I own GE. I do not own GM. I have traded GM in the past two years (from the short side). I do not own HMC. I did have an Acura (made by Honda) from 1995-2000.

Photo by Michael Pereckas via Flickr and Creative Commons