The Clean Tech Revolution
December 28, 2007 by admin
Filed under Books, Green, Technology
The Next Big Growth and Investment Opportunity
by Ron Pernick and Clint Wilder (24700)
Developing “clean technology” is no longer just a social cause championed by the tree huggers or environmentalists — it is rapidly becoming the next big engine of business and economic growth for a large number of mainstream companies.
“Clean tech” is any product, service or process that delivers value while eliminating or reducing the use of natural resources. As such, clean tech companies and technologies typically:
In the 1970s, clean tech was often labeled as “alternative” and there are six major forces that are fueling the drive towards clean tech:
Costs: clean-energy costs are falling as the costs of oil and fossil fuels steadily rise.
Capital: there is now a large influx of capital flowing into making clean tech products better.
Competition: many governments are going green in order to help create the jobs of the future.
China: the explosive growth of developing nations is driving clean tech development.
Consumers: who are starting to prefer cleaner products which use less resources.
Climate: business feels a need to be seen as contributing to the solutions to the world’s problems rather than generating more.
Today, industry giants like Toyota, Sharp and Goldman Sachs are making multi-billion-dollar investments in clean technology for solid business reasons rather than in an attempt to change the world.