Clean technology
A project that is developed with concern for climate change mitigation is also known as a carbon project.Clean Edge, a clean technology research firm, describes clean technology "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."
According to the United Nations Environment Program, wind, solar, and biofuel companies received a record $148 billion in new funding in 2007 as rising oil prices and climate change policies encouraged investment in renewable energy.
[2] According to an MIT Energy Initiative Working Paper published in July 2016, about a half of over $25 billion funding provided by venture capital to cleantech from 2006 to 2011 was never recovered.
The report cited cleantech's dismal risk/return profiles and the inability of companies developing new materials, chemistries, or processes to achieve manufacturing scale as contributing factors to its flop.
Through building their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) goals, they participate in using clean technology and other means by promoting Sustainability.
Its origin is the increased consumer, regulatory, and industry interest in clean forms of energy generation—specifically, perhaps, the rise in awareness of global warming, climate change, and the impact on the natural environment from the burning of fossil fuels.
The term has historically been differentiated from various definitions of green business, sustainability, or triple bottom line industries by its origins in the venture capital investment community and has grown to define a business sector that includes significant and high growth industries such as solar, wind, water purification, and biofuels.
[11] While the expanding industry has grown rapidly in recent years and attracted billions of dollars of capital, the clean technology space has not settled on an agreed-upon term.
In recent years, some clean technology companies have de-emphasized that aspect of their business to tap into broader trends, such as smart cities.
Since the 1990s, interest in these technologies has increased with two trends: a decline in the relative cost of these technologies and a growing understanding of the link between industrial design used in the 19th century and early 20th century, such as fossil fuel power plants, the internal combustion engine, and chemical manufacturing, and an emerging understanding of human-caused impact on earth systems resulting from their use (see articles: ozone hole, acid rain, desertification, climate change, and global warming).
During the last twenty years, regulatory schemes and international treaties have been the main factors that defined the investment environment of clean technologies.
[15][16] In 2008, clean technology venture investments in North America, Europe, China, and India totaled a record $8.4 billion.
The World Bank notes that these investments are enhancing economic efficiency, supporting sustainable development objectives, and promoting energy security by decreasing dependence on fossil fuel.
This volume of investment is fundamental to the global energy transition and remains in spite of an R&D funding plateau, representing the sector's healthy expansion and appreciation of renewable technology's promise.
Several journals offer in-depth analyses and forecasts of this investment trend, stressing its significant role in attainment of the world energy and climate targets.
[21] The 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark was expected to create a framework whereby limits would eventually be placed on greenhouse gas emissions.
[32][33] The European Green Deal has fostered policies that contributed to a 30% rise in venture capital for greentech companies in the EU from 2021 to 2023, despite a downturn in other sectors during the same period.
[32] Key areas, such as energy storage, circular economy initiatives, and agricultural technology, have benefited from increased investments, supported by the EU's ambitious goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030.
[6] Israel due to its geopolitical situation and harsh climate was forced to adopt technologies considered today as part of the cleantech sector.
India, who was the third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases, advanced a scheme of converting to renewable energy with sun and wind from fossil fuels.
The study emphasises the need for removing these obstacles for renewable energy to become more available and attractive thus benefiting all parties such as local communities and producers.
For example, India, has shown significant progress in the sector of renewable energy, a trend showing the adoption of clean technologies from other countries.
[45] The creation of clean technologies such as battery storage, CCS, and advanced biofuels is important for the achievement of sustainable energy systems.
The idea of shared benefits is created by making the renewable energy solutions environmentally friendly, cost-effective, and beneficial to producers.
[16] has been one of the renewable energy leaders in the world, and their efforts have expedited the progress after the nuclear power plant meltdown in Japan in 2011, by deciding to switch off all 17 reactors by 2022.
Notably, the countries in the Middle East have been utilizing their natural resources, an abundant amount of oil and gas, to develop solar electricity.
[48] Sustainability when combined with clean technology focuses on the central environmental issues of learning how to fulfill the need of Earth's resources and the requirement for fast industrialization and consuming of the energy.
This approach is consistent with sustainable development objectives since it offers measures that do not deplete natural resources but, instead, supply low-emission forms of energy.
