Cleantech: investment and implementation
My Clean Break column today looks at some of the latest quarterly investment numbers supplied by the Cleantech Venture Network. The outlook is encouraging. Venture capitalists continue to be excited about the space and there’s little sign of that changing. But perhaps more important, the level of awareness around climate change and its potential impacts on the economy and our way of living has reached the point where venture capital investment is being complemented by the increased purchase and implementation of clean technologies. This is no longer just about investing in the future, but about putting money behind action today. I’m seeing more and more evidence of this happening. Not to say that investment in R&D isn’t necessary. There are some really cool innovations coming out of university labs and start-ups, but we’ve got to continue to spend on technologies that exist right now if we’re going to have a measurable short-term impact on emissions.
Tyler Hamilton is editor-in-chief of Corporate Knights magazine and a business columnist for the Toronto Star, Canada's largest daily newspaper. In addition to this Clean Break blog, Tyler writes a weekly column of the same name that discusses trends, happenings and innovators in the clean technology and green energy market. This blog is a personal project started in April 2005. It is not an official blog of the newspaper.
