After years in development, cleantech infrastructure, technology and services are now going mainstream. Cleantech is revolutionizing how we make, grow, transport and consume things. It's helping the world meet energy demands. It's creating livelihoods and prosperity in uncertain economies. Is there still time for investors to make good returns in cleantech? Yes. Here’s why.
Cleantech Redefined
Why the next wave of cleantech infrastructure, technology and services will thrive in the twenty first century
A report by Kachan & Co., As You Sow and Responsible Endowments Coalition, October 2013.
38 pages
74 footnotes
19 tables, charts & figures
The global economy is undergoing a fundamental change. Companies are under increasing pressure to produce and consume more efficiently. This pressure is creating innovation and, above all, opportunity in cleantech.
In recent years, the cutting edge of cleantech has received outsized investment and headlines, and weathered the challenges of outsized expectations. Now, cleantech in all of its forms is poised for even more rapid expansion, especially now that the largest companies in the world have discovered the opportunity and imperative of cost savings.
Capital is now being invested in cleantech products and services by a variety of sources, from venture capital to cities, businesses, states, universities, and individuals. In 2012, cleantech attracted nearly a quarter of the venture capital (VC) available, capturing $6.4 billion, of nearly $26 billion in VC investment across all sectors. Adding to this, the world’s largest companies are now buying their way into cleantech. These are impressive achievements for an 11 year old category. What will the next decade hold for cleantech as companies rush to take advantage of new efficiencies and opportunities for bottom line improvement?
The good news is that investors haven’t missed a bull run. Cleantech will continue to happen in big ways. Disruptive technologies will continue making old sectors obsolete, while well-known brands, products, and companies will adopt clean technologies and products to improve their balance sheets and investors’ bottom lines. The pragmatic, undeniable opportunity for savings and efficiencies that are driving cleantech’s adoption today will continue to propel mass market acceptance and mainstream adoption.
This paper presents latest investment research on clean infrastructure and technology investment. We have synthesized research across a number of industries and major impact areas, identifying key value drivers and market size projections. We have also included examples of products and technologies currently on the market. We also highlight various large, mid and small cap firms and funds as possible points of entry for institutional and individual investors within each industry.
Report essential for
- Endowment trustees, pension fund administrators and other institutional investors
- Venture capitalists seeking disruptive innovation
- Investment advisors investigating on behalf of latest for clients
- Individual investors managing their own portfolios
- Service providers seeking leading companies in high growth clean industries
- Policy makers grappling with how to support the clean/green economy
- And others
Methodology
Kachan & Co. conducted interviews, synthesized secondary materials over a two month period and consulted its Cleantech Watch data service for this report. More than 200 representative public and private cleantech companies are identified in the report. Technologies investigated spanned the clean technology spectrum of clean energy, energy storage, efficiency (including green building, smart grid and collaborative consumption), transportation, air & environment, clean industry, water and agriculture.
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"Clean technology has had 10 years of mostly underwhelming returns. Yet there have been bright spots. And a broad recovery seems to be underway."
-From the report
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About the authors
Dallas Kachan, Managing Partner, Kachan & Co.
Dallas is the principal of cleantech research and consulting firm Kachan & Co. He was formerly managing director, executive editor and head of global marketing for the Cleantech Group, credited with coining the term cleantech and founding the cleantech investment theme. Dallas has authored 400+ cleantech articles and reports, served on the board of the U.C. Berkeley Haas School of Business' Cleantech Institute, is a regular speaker on cleantech worldwide and is widely quoted in the press.
Danielle Fugere, President, As You Sow
Danielle is responsible for strategic management of the Energy, Environmental Health, and Waste programs at As You Sow. She has achieved broad and lasting corporate change in clean energy, climate, and environmental health through shareholder actions, innovative legal strategies, and regulatory and legislative work. Previously ED of the Environmental Law Foundation and Legal Director and Regional Program Director for Friends of the Earth, she holds a JD from Berkeley School of Law and a BA in Political Economics from U.C. California, Berkeley.
Contributing authors Jean-Francois Denault, Senior Consultant, Kachan & Co., and Amelia Timbers, Energy Program Director, As You Sow. This report was made possible by the generous support of (in alphabetical order) Educational Foundation of America, Libra Foundation, and Wallace Global Fund. Additional support was provided by Arntz Family Foundation and the Fred Gellert Family Foundation.
Report partners
Founded in 1992, As You Sow promotes environmental and social corporate responsibility through shareholder advocacy, coalition building, and innovative legal strategies. Its efforts create large-scale systemic change by establishing sustainable and equitable corporate practices.
The Responsible Endowments Coalition (REC) is the leading voice for responsible investment in higher education in the United States. REC educates and empowers students, alumni, and campus communities to encourage their institutions to incorporate environmental and social considerations into their investment practices.
This report is based on information available to research staff and is believed to be reliable but no independent verification has been made. Perspectives expressed represent our judgment at the time of writing and may change in the future as circumstances evolve.
Kachan & Co. is not a registered broker dealer or a registered investment advisor. Nothing herein is intended to be or should be construed as investment advice. This document does not recommend any financial product be bought, sold or held, and nothing in this document should be construed as an offer, or the solicitation of an offer, to buy or sell securities. This report is not to be relied on by investors, disseminated to the public or summarized, quoted from or incorporated by reference in any document which is to be disseminated to the public. Investors should not make any investment decision without consulting a fully qualified financial adviser.