Clean Tech Industry at a Crossroads

Manish Bapna, President of the World Resource Institute, wrote a piece for Forbes about the clean tech industry and the critical crossroads it faces today. The wind and solar industries have experienced strong growth over the past decade. Both wind and solar are even close to cost competitiveness with fossil fuels in many parts of the world.  For instance, according to the McKinsey & Co industry analysis, solar PV deployment could increase 50-fold by 2020, rivaling the rate of natural gas growth. And yet, the industry is still in its infancy, and just like the fossil fuel industry before it, still depends on government engagement to reach maturity.

Yet, as renewable energy becomes a talking point in an election year, the very subsidies that helped the clean tech industry get this far are being threatened and the industry itself is feeling the effects. As Bapna puts it "these policy shifts risk stalling progress toward cost competitiveness at the 11th hour." It would be a shame for us to miss out on the potential jobs, economic growth, and sustainable energy production because of a lack of foresight and patience. Fossil fuels have benefited from a century of government subsidies, why not see what the clean tech industry can do with even just a fraction of that support?! Read all of Bapna's piece to see who is still investing and what can be done to help the clean tech industry reach maturity.