Clean tech encompasses a constellation of environmentally-sustainable technologies spanning multiple value chains in four primary economic sectors - energy, water, materials and transportation. Individually, these technologies are focused on the optimization of natural resources. Collectively, they are the basic elements of a broader systemic response to the systemic challenges of sustainability. The following taxonomy provides a basic snapshot of the core technologies that define the cleantech space:
- Energy Generation
- Energy Storage
- Energy Infrastructure
- Energy Efficiency
- Transportation
- Water & Wastewater
- Air & Environment
- Materials
- Manufacturing/Industrial
- Agriculture
- Recycling & Waste
Clean tech has also been defined as:
“Clean tech is a diverse range of products, services, and processes that harness renewable materials and energy sources, dramatically reduce the use of natural resources, and cut or eliminate emissions and wastes . . . [which are] are competitive with, if not superior to, their conventional counterparts.”
–Clean Edge, Inc.
"Clean technology is the application of technology to optimize the use of natural resources and biotech."
–Merrill Lynch
“Cleantech – which refers to renewable, sustainable, and/or environmentally safe technologies – is a rapidly growing industry segment.”
–PARC Research
"We define clean tech as being multiple independent value chains tied loosely together by the increasing cost of energy and the challenge of climate change . . . thus, clean tech can be defined as technology enabling massive transformation of the planet’s largest industries."
-Mohr Davidow Ventures
"Cleantech is the composite of the several technology sectors, which include (1) energy generation, management and storage, and energy efficiency, including solar, wind, geothermal, fuels cell and hydrogen (2) transportation: advanced transportation technologies, biofuels (3) materials and green building: includes advanced materials and engineering approaches, materials recover (4) water and air related technologies."
–SustainLane
|
