Introducing the “new, pragmatic approach to energy investing” (as it is called by SmartMoney) – also known as the having it both ways approach. It’s a new way to invest in energy stocks, and it mimics what the big oil companies themselves are doing. It’s a hedge, really.

It’s investing in the traditional energy supplies like coal and oil as a core to the portfolio, while also adding alternative energy like solar, wind and biofuel to the mix.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration projects fast growing economies like India and China will help drive energy consumption up by 33% by 2030. This will also drive up research into green and renewable energy sources, but it will also push the price of oil up to where it will be profitable to tap the harder to drill wells and process the more costly oil shale supplies of Canada – hence the hedge. Fossil fuels aren’t going away anytime soon, but they also won’t last forever.

Here are 5 energy stocks that should benefit from the new and old sources of energy.

Schlumberger (SLB).

This Houston based oil services firm helps customers like Exxon Mobil improve their efficiency in finding and extracting oil. Schlumberger gets nearly 75% of its $27 billion in annual sales from customers outside the U.S., so it’s also a nice foreign investment play. It’s active in operations off the west African coast as well as Russia.

Drilling fell nearly 60% in the U.S. and 30% in Russia when the recession hit, so it’s not a short term hold by any stretch, but it’s a good long term buy and hold opportunity. The cost of energy is only going to go up in the future, which is why many analysts say that Schlumberger’s long term potential far outweighs the short term challenges.

Apache (APA).

Natural gas prices fell 75% when new reserves of gas came into the market, and while this may be good news for consumers it’s not so good for Apache, who gets more than half its income from natural gas.

But natural gas is only half the story. While natural gas is not expected to hit it’s all time high again anytime soon, oil has rebounded quite a bit from it’s near $30 per barrel low. Apache’s plan is to only drill when oil is $40 or more a barrel, and search for gas when it’s at least $4.50 per million BTUs. Not surprisingly, Apache is spending much of it’s focus on oil these days.

Analysts say the company has a long term record of boosting production through acquisitions and operating efficiencies. As Ben Halliburton, chief investment officer of money manager Tradition Capital says, “They do a great job blocking and tackling.”

First Solar (FSLR).

Even though demand for solar energy worldwide is expected to be flat for this year, and even though the world is gripped by recession, this maker of solar panels expects earnings to soar 70% this year, and sales to increase 55%. Not too shabby.

Despite the buzz around green, renewable energy, solar energy is only a blip on the global energy radar. That means that if solar energy can become cost effective, there’s a lot of room for growth.

Some analysts expect demand for solar energy to grow more than 40% as the recession ends and governments continue to favor clean energy with grants and subsidies.

To ready itself for this anticipated growth, First Solar plans to double its production and manufacture enough solar panels to provide 1,000 megawatts of electricity.

If all this research and anticipation pans out, this would give First Solar an edge against any competitors.

Telvent (TLVT).

Telvent provides traffic management and other services to improve efficiency in energy and transportation industries. Efficiency is seen by some analysts as the low-hanging fruit of the push for cleaner, greener energy. This makes sense, because it’s easier to cut costs than increase revenue.

The massive $787 billion government spending bill passed by congress in February included $4.5 billion for building a “smart grid.” The smart grid makes use of technology and services provided by companies like Telvent to increase the efficiency of energy transmission.

Telvent’s client base includes utilities and governments around the world, and they hope to get a large part of the smart grid projects. The company headquarters were moved from Madrid to outside Washington, D.C. last year, which probably won’t hurt their bid for federal projects any.

Massey Energy (MEE).

Last up on the recommended energy stocks on this list comes from America’s often battered coal industry. Demand for coal is down, and competition from natural gas is up and Washington has made the coal industry second only to “Big Oil” on its energy enemies list. All of this factors into coal stocks being all but left for dead.

So why is a coal company like Massey Energy on a list of recommended stocks?

In a word, opportunity.

All those negatives have beaten share price down so far that there is a potential for huge return. Despite its status in Washington, coal remains one of the cheapest and most abundant sources of energy and still powers half of the U.S. electric output.

Massey is the nation’s 4th largest coal producer and the largest coal company in Central Appalachia.

Regardless of the ideals of the green energy movement, America is not likely to wean itself from coal for more than a decade at the earliest and Massey Energy is poised to reap the rewards for the time being.

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