There are a growing number of investment funds targeted at people of all persuasions, including those concerned with corporate governance, social equity, and environmental protection. Indeed, an entire cottage industry has sprung up that researches who’s been naughty or nice in these arenas.

A leader in this field is KLD Research & Analytics, which publishes indices that are licensed to fund managers who wish to construct socially responsible investment vehicles. Groups including TIAA-CREF and Barclays have pinned funds to KLD’s indices that currently account for more than $8 billion.

Recently, KLD announced the launch of the Global Climate 100 Index, described as “the first global index focused on solutions to climate change.” It’s also probably the first index focused on solving a problem that may, or may not, actually exist.

KLD has partnered with a group called Global Energy Network Institute (GENI), which is pursuing Buckminster Fuller’s conviction that many of the world’s ills could be solved by designing a worldwide electricity grid.

No organization has yet licensed this index to launch a fund, but according to Noel Friedman, KLD’s managing director of research products, there is significant interest.

As is usually the case, KLD has done a “back test” that purports to show how such an index would have performed historically. Apparently, the index has outperformed the MSCI world energy sector index. Not bad – at the end of June, that index had risen 34% in 12 months.

That may be a selling point, since even socially concerned individuals like to make good returns. Also, a spike in oil prices usually gets people thinking about what else we can burn and how to lessen our dependence on imported fuels. Indeed, this index could be used to construct a closet tech fund, since the companies listed are on the cutting edge of developing alternative energy sources.

Included in the index are large companies like FPL Group (FPL; $44), formerly Florida Light and Power, which KLD describes as the “largest U.S. wind-power portfolio, accounting for 43% of U.S. wind energy.”

Also in the index is General Electric (GE; $35), which recently launched a program called “ecomagination” in which $1.5 billion will go to research to improve energy efficiency and lower pollution.

GE expects to lower its greenhouse gas emissions by 1% by 2012, which would be a notable achievement since without the program, emissions were expected to grow 40%. The company will employ its own technologies, substituting wind turbines to generate electricity rather than burning coal, converting from coal to natural gas, and burning cleaner coal where the first two options aren’t possible.

GE spokesman Gary Sheffer claims that the company will be improving its energy efficiency over time by 30%.Why make the effort? “We’ve made no bones about it. Our goal is to make money,” Mr. Sheffer said. “Customers have told us they want this, and we think that some regulatory changes are inevitable.”

In other words, it makes business sense for all sorts of reasons. United Parcel Service (UPS; $70), also on the KLD list, has a similar point of view. UPS has 1,700 trucks running on alternative fuels out of a total fleet of 88,000. They drive 30 million miles a year and reduce emissions by 130 million metric tons annually.

Some of the trucks run on propane or LNG; even some of the large 18-wheelers are fitted out as test vehicles. Ultimately, higher fuel prices may render some of these alternatives economically viable, spokeswoman Peggy Gardner said. In the meantime, other “green” efforts, such as making the flow of packages more efficient, has immediate rewards. Not only do fewer miles driven mean less emissions, it’s also good for the bottom line.

KLD’s index is equal weighted, with each company accounting for 1% of the total. Thus, the large companies cited would receive the same focus as smaller companies like Azure Dynamics (AZD.TO; 91 cents), which develops hybrid electric and electric vehicles. UQM Technologies (UQM; $3.08), a maker of power-dense high efficiency electric motors, and Beacon Power (BCON; $1.06) which makes energy storage solutions, are also among the small-cap stocks in the index.

Overall, the companies in the index may indeed represent an excellent proxy for alternative energy investment, and the companies may have practical business objectives. Nonetheless, one is slightly wary of the involvement of GENI.

GENI’s Web site cites endorsements by luminaries such as John Denver, Senator Jeffords of Vermont, and the Dalai Lama, but it appears light on backing from the scientific community. GENI’s board, which include a number of planners, teachers, journalists, and one “cosmopolitan entrepreneur,” seems underwhelming in its scientific gravity.

One wonders whether the focus of the index is not unduly tilted towards the “electrical solution” envisioned by the late Mr. Fuller. Also, recent articles in various scientific journals have once again challenged the data on global warming, and indeed put forth possible alternative explanations of why there has been warming in some areas.

In any case, for the believers, and perhaps also for those confident in the future appeal of alternative fuels, the new KLD index appears an excellent reference point.