Enphase Energy and biofuels company Kior have been added to the Nasdaq Clean Edge Green Energy Index, while 14 companies including Suntech Power Holdings, FuelCell Energy, Echelon Corporation and LDK Solar have been removed, effective prior to market open on Monday, Sept. 24.
The Green Energy Index, designed to track clean-energy companies that are publicly traded in the US, includes firms that manufacture, develop, distribute and install solar photovoltaics, biofuels, advanced batteries and other clean-energy technologies.
It is re-evaluated semi-annually in March and September, and companies must meet certain eligibility criteria to remain on — or be added to — the index. These include minimum requirements for market value, average daily share volume and price.
As a result of the evaluation, the other 10 companies removed from the index are: A123 Systems, Capstone Turbine Corporation, Canadian Solar, Gevo, Green Plains Renewable Energy, IXYS Corporation, JA Solar Holdings, O2Micro International Limited, Renesola and STR Holdings.
The Nasdaq Clean Edge Green Energy Index is the basis for the First Trust Nasdaq Clean Edge Green Energy Index Fund, which seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield of the NASDAQ Clean Edge Green Energy Index before fees and expenses.
Nasdaq also reevaluates the Nasdaq OMX CRD Global Sustainability Index semiannually. According to Nasdaq, companies listed in this index are leaders in disclosing their carbon footprint, energy usage, water consumption, hazardous and non-hazardous waste, employee safety, workforce diversity, management composition and community investing.
Earlier this summer, Nasdaq announced plans to join forces with four other stock exchanges — Cairo, Istanbul, Johannesburg and Sao Paulo — to encourage companies to list more of their environmental, social and governance risks. And in June, at the UN Rio+20 Earth Summit, UK deputy prime minister Nick Clegg revealed a government mandate that will force companies listed on the London Stock Exchange’s main market to publish the full details of their greenhouse gas emissions.
