Alternative energy has become a vital issue in addressing climate change and a global recession. Even prior to environmentally-conscious U.S. President Barack Obama taking oath, the United States was well on its way to expanding clean energy through the use of wind power. Reuters reports that the U.S. wind power grew in capacity by 50% in 2008 to 25 gigwatts (GW). This level of growth now ranks the U.S. as the top wind producer ahead of Germany, Spain, and China.

The new U.S. President strongly favors the continued development of alternative energy. Reuters reports that not only is U.S. wind power tops in the world, but solar energy is expected to reach the top spot this year as well. With this focus and government support, ETFs such as First Trust Global Wind Energy ETF (FAN: Quote, Profile, Advanced Chart, News) and Claymore/MAC Global Solar Energy ETF (TAN: Quote, Profile, Advanced Chart, News) should be found on every investor’s watchlist.

The Deutsche Boerse is the home of 22 new Dow Jones ETFs that have just been licensed to Commerzbank AG. The GlobeNewswire press release has identified the indexes as: Dow Jones EURO STOXX 50, Dow Jones EURO STOXX Select Dividend 30, Dow Jones STOXX 600, all 18 Dow Jones STOXX 600 Supersector indexes and the Dow Jones Industrial Average. With the access to this extensive list of indexes through ETFs, investors will have broad exposure to U.S. and European markets, as well as various sectors. Werner Buerki, chairman, STOXX supervisory board confirms that point by saying, “The 21 Dow Jones STOXX indexes chosen by Commerzbank for their lineup of ETFs offer investors broad varieties to participate in the performance of the core European markets and sectors.”

The broad market indexes are described further in the article. For example, Dow Jones EURO STOXX 50 Index is comprised of 50 sector leaders within twelve European countries, such as France, Germany or Spain. Similarly, the Dow Jones STOXX 600 Index provides a broad exposure to Europe by investing in 18 European markets like Ireland, Italy, or the United Kingdom. The other main type of index is the Dow Jones STOXX 600 Supersector Index. There are 18 of this indexes that are based on companies of the Dow Jones STOXX 600 but are specific to various sectors such as Financials, Health Care, or Technology.

The PowerShares Global Wind Energy Portfolio has now been introduced and is ready for listing on the Nasdaq Stock Market. The ETF portfolio will be trading under the ticker symbol of PWND, according to the Market Wire press release. PWND will track the NASDAQ OMX Clean Edge Global Wind Energy Index, which includes various companies that produce and use wind energy. The international index is weighted in a variety of countries. The Market Wire article lists the many countries within PWND. Spain has the most weight with nearly one-fourth of the index, while Germany makes up more than 16% and Denmark has 14% of the weighting. The U.S. is the only other country to have a double-digit weight percentage at 11.55%. President and CEO of Invesco PowerShares, Bruce Bond, sums up their mindset behind releasing the ETF by saying, "Wind power is among the largest emerging clean energy sources on the planet, and our goal with PWND is to give investors a more innovative and precise way to access this important sector, along with the inherent structural benefits of an ETF.