A company that I used to write about extensively is Fuel-Tech Inc. (NASDAQ/FTEK). If there ever was a poster company for the alternative energy investment theme, this small company would be near the top.

Fuel-Tech doesn't operate in the energy production business. It's in the business of cleaning up the energy production business. This company is selling its products all around the world, and it is really helping to clean up coal-fired energy plants.

Fuel-Tech's specialized technologies for air pollution control mostly deal with nitrogen oxide (NOx) reduction. The company's proprietary NOx reduction technologies include the "NOxOUT," "NOxOUT CASCADE," and "NOxOUT" catalytic reduction processes, which reduce NOx emissions from boilers, incinerators, furnaces, and other stationary combustion sources.

The company also operates a "FUEL CHEM" business that uses chemical processes for slagging, corrosion control, and plume abatement in furnaces and boilers, with the addition of chemicals into the fuel. The company was founded in 1987 in the Netherlands, and it maintains a U.S. head office in Stamford, Connecticut.

This small-cap company is a classic example of a business that had a rough start, honed its products and business plan, then finally achieved success operationally and on the stock market.

In early 2006, this stock was trading under $10 per share. Now it is trading near $30 per share, and it continues to have a bright future.

I discovered this company after I determined that I wanted to find a handful of attractive, smaller companies that would be considered part of the burgeoning alternative energy sector. As I recall, I easily found a list of companies through an Internet search, looked into each of them, and found three with really solid investment prospects. It wasn't a difficult task to achieve.

Fuel-Tech is one of the top wealth creating small-cap companies listed on the NASDAQ. If it was this easy for me to find a company like this, there's no reason why any individual investor can't do the same thing. Lots more companies like Fuel-Tech are out there. All that's required is a little effort to find them.