Cleantechinvestor.co.uk, Renewable Energy, Biofuel, Investment

OOPS. Your Flash player is missing or outdated.Click here to update your player so you can see this content.

Cleantech magazine, a Cleantech Investor publication

Editor's Letter June 2007

First published in Cleantech magazine, June/July 2007. © Cleantech Investor Ltd.

Dear Reader,

Welcome to the launch issue of Cleantech magazine. Wikipedia defines cleantech (short for clean technology) as: “differentiated from green technology since it generally refers to the emerging financial asset class of clean technologies as opposed to the actual technology in which the industry invests”. Wikipedia asserts that cleantech represents a “move beyond triple bottom line (investor activity) towards traditional earnings-driven investing”.

Clean technology is a relatively new asset class. The US based Cleantech Network™ claims to have introduced cleantech as a viable investment category in 2002. They say that: “where greentech, or envirotech, represent the highly regulatory driven, ‘end-of–pipe’ technology of the past, with limited opportunity for attractive returns, cleantech is driven by market economics therefore offering greater financial upside and sustainability”.

The Cleantech Venture Network LLC reports that cleantech clusters have emerged, notably on the West Coast of the US – mirroring, in some respects, the dot-com era. Cleantech financings on the West Coast, they report, averaged $9.1m last year, compared to an average for North America of $6.7m.

In Europe, the AIM market is proving to be an important source of funds for early stage cleantech companies, both from the UK and from around the globe.
Ron Pernick and Clint Wilder of the Clean Edge recently published a book entitled The Clean Tech Revolution. They highlight eight major cleantech sectors: solar energy, wind power, biofuels and biomaterials, green buildings, personal transportation, the smart grid, mobile applications and water filtration.
Cleantech magazine aims to cover these sectors – and more. Our first issue is dedicated to Clean Motoring – or ‘personal transportation’.

Cleantech magazine’s primary focus is the UK. However, cleantech investment themes are global – and finance and investment are cross border businesses. Going forward our content and, I anticipate, our readership will be international.

On behalf of the team, I hope you find Cleantech an enjoyable and informative read. We welcome your comments and any feedback on how we can refine the magazine’s content as we go forward to better meet your information needs.

Anne McIvor, June 2007