Cleantech has emerged over the past couple of years as a relevant and dynamic area for investors. The growth in the number and size of cleantech deals has been early and particularly impressive in the United States, where cleantech is now the third investment category behind IT and biotech. Clean technologies are now booming in many countries, in response to global environmental and economical challenges such as climate change, rising oil and energy prices, air pollution, access to water and raw materials, etc. Cleantech is also gaining support from political leaders, who view this innovative field as a potential growth engine for increased national wealth and job creation. This is particularly true in Scandinavia.
     

The use of a common language
Cleantech Group, the worldwide first and today’s largest cleantech network with headquarters in San Francisco, has established a now broadly accepted and used definition of cleantech and of cleantech investment segments.
Cleantech Scandinavia’s approach is consistent with these, in order to facilitate international discussions, collaborations and comparisons.

Cleantech as an investment category
Potential cleantech investments consist of products, services and processes designed to optimise and reduce the use of all resources, re duce or eliminate releases to the environment in a preventative approach, and provide superior performance at lower costs than existing solutions. Cleantech thereby differs in focus compared to the traditional end of pipe environmental technologies such as pollution control equipment, remediation techniques, or hazardous waste treatment methods.

 11 investment segments within cleantech
Cleantech consists of the following 11 segments, for which typical but non-exclusive examples of technologies are provided in brackets: 
  • Energy Generation (wind, solar, hydro/marine, biofuels, geothermal)
  • Energy Storage (fuels cells, advanced batteries, hybrid systems)
  • Energy Infrastructure (management, transmission)
  • Energy Efficiency (lighting, buildings, glass)
  • Transportation (vehicles, logistics, structures, fuels)
  • Water & Wastewater (water and wastewater treatment, water conservation)
  • Air & Environment (emissions monitoring and offset, trading)
  • Materials (nano, bio, chemicals)
  • Manufacturing/Industrial (advanced packaging, smart production)
  • Agriculture (natural pesticides, land management, aquaculture)
  • Recycling & Waste (recycling, waste treatment