Canada ranks 7th in world on clean technology

Today, Cleantech Group and WWF published Coming Clean: The Global Cleantech Innovation Index 2012.
What is clean technology? This is a broad term that encompasses any technology that has the potential to improve the environment – clean, in the greenest sense of the word. This includes renewable energy, such as wind, solar, or biofuels – and also extends to technologies that support renewable energy, like smart grids (improving how we build our electrical grid) and energy storage (large batteries). It also includes recycling energy, materials and waste, as well as ways to green transportation and agriculture.


We partnered with Cleantech Group to produce a report that looks at cleantech start-up companies who are creating new, sustainable technologies. We looked at how they started, and – most importantly – how they are growing,
Most of the news that we hear around the environment and climate change is largely focused on policy or on various public attitudes towards climate change or energy. Too rarely do we hear about the innovative and entrepreneurial companies that are making tangible and effective change in this very moment. For this reason, it may come as a surprise that Canada is ranked so highly – 7th of 38 countries. It shows that Canadian entrepreneurs are already on a very positive path to success, regardless of the path taken in Canadian politics.
But that doesn’t mean that government policy isn’t key to enabling success on clean technologies. Policies like feed-in tariffs for renewable energy are key to providing these technologies with momentum, and to allow the technologies to be used at scale. For example, the feed-in tariff policy in Ontario has created huge opportunities for renewable energy technologies in the province. Building codes and efficiency standards are other regulatory pieces that are key enablers for clean technology.
Canada’s potential as a clean technology innovator, coupled with our abundance of natural resources of renewable energy,  is a powerful combination in the future world of energy. It is encouraging to see that our entrepreneurs are grabbing that opportunity and taking the lead. May we all follow suit.
Read the Globe and Mail article, Canada places 7th in creating green-tech firms, February 27, 2012