Company Profiles

Abengoa

Spain

Abengoa is a diversified company with business divisions that include bioenergy, solar energy, industrial engineering and construction, environmental services, and information technology. Abengoa's tagline is "Innovative Solutions for Sustainability," and a significant portion of its business is based on environmentally beneficial technologies, however, the company also services the nuclear power and oil and gas industries. The company's bioenergy division produces ethanol and biodiesel from a variety of feedstocks in Europe and the U.S. Abengoa acknowledges the life-cycle and net energy impacts of utilizing crops for biofuels and is conducting research on a variety of feedstocks, including cellulosic ethanol, a biofuel Portfolio 21 considers to have lower environmental risks and greater environmental value. Through its construction division, the company also builds refineries for biofuel production, serving the biofuels sector on a broad scale. In addition, Abengoa constructed and operates the world's first solar thermal power plant, which is set for expansion to 300 megawatts. The company indicates its focus is "creating infrastructures that prevent new investments in assets that generate emissions," and it understands the risks, challenges, and opportunities associated with global climate change. An area for improvement for Abengoa would be streamlining its environmental reporting.

To the best of our knowledge the above information is accurate and was obtained from sources we believe to be reliable. Neither the information presented above nor any opinion expressed shall be construed as an offer to sell or a solicitation to buy the security. The views expressed are those of portfolio management as of 6/30/08 and may not reflect current opinions or subsequent events.