Over the past few months, as election rhetoric heated up and the economy has cooled, one of Barack Obama's recurring themes has been that the secret to America's future will be the development of an alternative-energy economy. To a populace that has grown increasingly weary of the lackadaisical government approach to economic disaster, this has been particularly galvanizing, and was undoubtedly a major influence on the election. Now that Obama has won, however, the next question is how he will transform those exciting New Deal-esque words into concrete action.

John Podesta, co-chairman of the Obama/Biden transition team, may provide a useful insight into this question. In his day job, Podesta is president of the Center for American Progress (CAP), a liberal think tank that is based in Washington D.C. CAP has already drafted a green-energy stimulus plan; with several programs that are ready to go, it would create 2 million jobs, and would cost a relatively meager $50 billion. While there is no guarantee that CAP's plan will be adopted, given Podesta's proximity to the presidency, it seems likely that at least part of it will become reality within the next year. For a savvy investor, this could be a blueprint for industries that are, potentially, poised to explode with a massive influx of new funds.

Green Autos: Obama has made it very clear that he intends to directly tie any automotive bailout to the development of green technologies. CAP's plan calls for a 4% per year increase in fuel-efficiency standards, as well as investment in new battery technology for plug-in hybrids. With this in mind, it's worth seriously considering which automakers are best poised to go forth with more fuel-efficient models. Furthermore, programs like CAP's "Cash for Clunkers" could be a major boon for companies that process or deal in recycled metals.

At this week's North American International Auto Show in Detroit, we saw the typical fare. But there was something different -- a variety of upstart cleantech companies.

Two such companies made their debuts at the conference: Coskata, which develops cellulosic ethanol from waste, and EcoMotors, a maker of fuel-efficient diesel engines.

To get some perspective on things, I talked to Andre Peschong, an investment banker focused on cleantech who operates Deal Flow Diaries. According to him:

"Cleantech and Detroit muscle, never thought those would be in the same sentence together or housed under the same show. The Detroit Auto Show was almost overshadowed by all of the cleantech announcements. The catalyst for this tour de force was oil hitting $100 per barrel. Even though oil has retreated somewhat, it really has been a rally cry for VC funds to get serious about deploying capital in to cleantech, specifically automotive.

General Motors (NYSE: GM) announced this weekend at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit that it would partner with Coskata Inc., an Illinois-based renewable energy start-up company that plans to produce ethanol from agricultural, municipal, and industrial waste byproducts.

"GM is enabling Coskata to produce the next generation of biofuels -- without using a food source -- making it economically viable and commercially available," said Coskata CEO Bill Roe. "Alternative transportation fuels are coming faster than people think ... and will be available at a lower cost than people have imagined."

Coskata is backed by billionaire investor Vinod Khosla, said the Wall Street Journal, and is one of a handful of ethanol makers in the U.S. that are trying to develop a method for efficiently producing cellulosic ethanol.

But Coskata's cellulosic ethanol won't be available at retail gas stations until 2010 or later. The company maintains that its process is commercially viable already. It plans to open a 40,000-gallon demonstration facility by the end of this year to deliver ethanol to GM for vehicle testing, before building a 100-million-gallon commercial plant at an undetermined U.S. location.

GM's foray into the cellulosic ethanol field is part of a broader campaign to convince car buyers that it is committed to fuel economy and capable of competing with Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE: TM) in terms of environmental leadership. GM's stake in the partnership with Coskata was undisclosed.