The CleanTech Movement: A Fad or An Earth-Saving Initiative

On Monday, some of the biggest tech entrepreneurs came together to form a $1 billion fund called – Breakthrough Energy Ventures. The fund with founders such as Bill Gates, Jack Ma, Jeff Bezos and a host of others over the next 20 years want to provide everyone in the world with access to reliable, affordable power, food, goods, transportation, and services without contributing to greenhouse gas emissions

Technology will help solve our energy issues, feed the world, and produce goods without emitting greenhouse gases.
Some of the biggest challenges facing humans on planet earth have been: Electricity, Transportation, Agriculture, Manufacturing, and Buildings. And the founders hope that through the Fund – Breakthrough Energy Ventures-

Scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs can invent and scale the innovative technologies that will limit the impact of climate change while providing affordable and reliable energy to everyone.

But These Aint A New Thing

CleanTech 2016 – An Old Wine In An New Bottle?

Lead Recycling, Green Builders, More Electric Automobiles. These and much more are what a quick Google search will bring up as the trends of 2016.

Over the past few years, a number of Cleantech companies have raised billions of dollars. All with the aim of reducing negative environmental impacts and boosting sustainable use of resources. From Solar, Wind, Recycling, BioFuel to the Hydro Industry, innovative ideas won over the hearts of government and investors.

Capitalism to the rescue and Green Wave were examples of fancy terms used to sway the public opinion.

It all started with a 2007 TED widely popular talk by John Doerr on climate change and renewable energy. Watched over 700,000 times, the legendary investor’s emotional speech sparked a lot of discussions which led to the rise of numerous clean tech companies and specialized venture capitalists in Silicon Valley. The US govt was also not left out in the excitement. Billions of dollars were invested by the President through loans, grants, and tax breaks.

Sadly, at the end, it turned out to be an overhyped movement leading to a series of flops.

The Big Flop - Why They Failed

The biggest flop of the Cleantech bust was Solyndra. It had raised millions of dollars from top investors including Richard Branson and the US government hoping to produce enough solar panels that will power a significant share of the power consumption market. However, after a number of bad decisions and poor luck, Solyndra filed for bankruptcy. Other companies that were overhyped too like Aptera – maker of an all-electric three-wheel car had to stop production.
From biofuels, solar, hydro to wind segments, investors lost a huge amount of money. The most affected was the Solar Power segment which companies like Solyndra belonged to.

There are a number of reasons why the boom busted. Among them are:

Short-sightedness of Investors:
Most tech investors operate within a short timeframe before expecting returns. However, this is not the case when it comes to Cleantech sector. So many resources are invested in Research and Development ( R & D) that it might take a decade for a clean tech company to recoup investment and also make a profit.

Many venture capitalists only jumped on the train ‘cos that was where the money was at that moment. And when the slightest warning sign came, investors starved companies of much-needed funds to improve product design and reduce cost per output unit.

Global Market Rut and Aggressive Cross-Sector Competitors:
The Global Financial Crisis between 2007-2009 ruined the massive gains of previous years. Investments dwindled. And after china in 2010 raised $30 billion line of credit, Chinese companies massively produced solar panels ultimately pricing US solar companies like Solyndra out of the market.
Also, the aggressive flooding of the market by the Silicon producers ensured that the hitherto cost-effective alternative made by Solar companies was rendered useless.

Advances in the non-renewables market:
One of the biggest reasons for the renewables frenzy –biofuels like ethanol, wind, solar and hydro energy was the costly price of shale gas and crude oil – Non-renewable sources of energy.
However, due to advanced extractive technologies, the prices of these non-renewables fell. For example, the price of natural gas fell by 77 percent since 2008.

Simply, renewables stood no chance of competing.

All Hope Is Not Lost

It’s not all doomy and gloomy. Despite efforts to paint a grim picture, researchers believe that the Cleantech sector has in a way meet expectations. Take the most successful modern clean energy companies, including Tesla, SolarCity, PowerLight, BrightSource and NexTracker for example. Tesla and SolarCity have successfully been able to produce their respective products en masse for the public meeting margins and in some cases earning profits.

In fact, some experts believe that the Cleantech sector only went through the “loss” stage just like many innovative solutions e.g. Oil, Automobile, The Internet and Web-Based Startups.

Many startups that survived through lean times are now poised for growth. And startups that were better positioned because of lower capital burn, or launched after the lean times with smarter business models, are doing quite well indeed. Cleantech startups are healthier than ever.

Also, they believe that rather than focusing on only the financials to judge Cleantech products, we should take a hard look at other criteria. E.g rising number of installations. For example, Tesla and SolarCity have successfully reduced the cost of their products while still maintaining quality.
And even more importantly, the increased awareness about man’s effect on his environment.

What Changed?

Firstly, entrepreneurs have learned the hard way and have re-strategized. Top Tech Companies are applying all lessons learned in creating cost-effective, environment saving/friendly products and production processes.

Also, Tech companies and Venture capitalists are committing huge amounts of dollars in long-term R & D projects. Projects, companies like Google, call Moonshots. The recent restructuring to Alphabet mirrors the renewed optimism.
With the CleanTech movement slowly reaching a decade of existence, it is hoped that it is here, finally, to stay.

Way Forward? And What you can do?

The responsibility to take care of Planet Earth and make it habitable for coming generations lies with all of us.
To be honest, we’ve all played a part in contributing to the negative climate change effects we now face. Electronic and automobile wastes top the list. Our little personal efforts can go a long way in making earth a better place to live in.

We are in the midst of a radical transformation in how we feed ourselves, how we travel, and how we power our lives.

A big reason why we need initiatives like the Breakthrough Energy Ventures to be successful. Long Live CleanTech :)

---

I write every now and then on topics – (AI, Economics, Psychology and All Things Tech) - that pique my curiosity. Would love to hear from you ;)

---

Sources:
http://www.b-t.energy/coalition/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clean_technology
https://techcrunch.com/2016/12/11/bill-gates-jeff-bezos-and-18-others-commit-1-billion-to-new-cleantech-fund-breakthrough-energy-ventures/
https://techcrunch.com/2015/04/18/cleantech-is-dead-long-live-cleantech/
http://blog.claremontcreek.com/trends-bode-well-for-clean-tech-ipos-this-year/
https://www.greentechmedia.com/cleantech-investing/post/why-cleantech-venture-investments-fail
http://blog.ceigateway.com/blog/challenges-facing-cleantech-startups-and-resources-to-overcome-them
https://techcrunch.com/2016/01/05/will-the-paris-climate-change-deal-prove-to-be-the-catalyst-for-cleantech/
https://bluenotes.anz.com/posts/2016/02/the-four-clean-tech-trends-of-2016/
http://www.cambridgeassociates.com/our-insights/research/clean-tech-company-performance-statistics-2014-q3/
https://techcrunch.com/2014/07/06/cleantechs-death-has-been-greatly-exaggerated/
http://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/sustainability-and-resource-productivity/our-insights/myths-and-realities-of-clean-technologies
https://www.wired.com/2012/01/ff_solyndra/