When asked to define Cleantech I usually count off using my fingers to make sure I’ve listed the myriad of industries captured under this umbrella term. Each industry is redefining business as usual to reduce its impact to the environment. Despite sharing a common moniker these industries mostly work in isolation from each other – much to our disadvantage. At Nordic Green II there was broad representation from each of cleantech’s subcategories as companies, commissions and experts updated us on the progress being made by Scandinavian countries. The need for synergy among these industries was identified and well illustrated by Sweden’s Energy Agency in a fun simulation game called SymBioCity. As a mayor for the day you gain an appreciation of how challenging it can be to integrate these industries, and what trade-offs you need to make to increase energy efficiency and optimize utilization of other natural resources all while reducing the carbon footprint of this make-believe city.
While the event kicked off with this holistic view, the numerous presenters seemed to be developing very exciting cleantech innovations in isolation from broader resource or climate affecting issues. Unfortunately I cannot point to any good examples of synergies among cleantech industries outside of Sweden. Can you?