Opportunities Abound in Clean Technology

Turn the pages of your mental calendar all the way back to the early 1990s. It’s hard to imagine that the terms "Internet," "information technology" and "IT" weren’t part of our daily vernacular. And yet by the mid-1990s, investment and employment opportunities in IT and anything Internet-related were proliferating—even IT Buzzword Bingo was being played at office meetings everywhere. No one could have imagined then the impact the industry has now on almost every facet of our daily life.

Today, "clean technology"—aka "clean tech"—appears to be the next big industry everyone is watching. 

"Clean technology today feels like IT did almost 20 years ago," says Gary Dvorchak, faculty member at University of Phoenix Southern California Campus and investor relations executive in the clean tech sector. "It has tons of venture capital investment going into it, and it has the potential for explosive job growth."

Clean Technology Defined

So what exactly is "clean technology?"

"The term really encompasses a broad area of industrial activity," Dvorchak explains. "It’s a merger of three areas: utilities, energy and technology. The efforts in these areas are starting to intersect and overlap—through renewable energy, recycling and water purification, for example. Clean tech embraces any of these new industries and the activities taking place within them."

To illustrate this, Dvorchak says that in the water utilities area, for example, new processes for purification are being developed, including desalinization. That necessitates building facilities to run purification treatments. It means starting companies that produce the materials and equipment to enable purification. And then, of course, skilled people have to be hired to manage the specialized processes.

Poised for a Growth Spurt 

Despite clean tech being a promising industry with huge job opportunities just as IT was almost two decades ago, the problem we have today that didn’t exist then is our unusually high unemployment.

"We have to ask ourselves, ‘Is clean tech far enough along in its development as an industry that it can provide the kinds of jobs that the Internet/IT industry did back in the 1990s?’" says Dvorchak. "We’re definitely at an inflection point where we’re starting to see tremendous job growth in clean tech, but I don’t think we’re far enough along that we can see the organic growth and job creation that we need. It’s still dependent on government subsidies to survive."

He asserts that it’s fine in the near term to depend on government assistance because it’s jump-starting the industry. For example, because kilowatt prices are higher for clean energies, it will take longer to see the return on investment than with traditional energy sources. The assistance "primes the pump," as Dvorchak calls it, "to help the industry gain economy of scale in terms of costs. The goal is to become self-sufficient and not need those subsidies. We’re not there yet."

Comparatively, IT as an industry—while relatively young—is very developed, meaning it’s self-sufficient in terms of job creation, economic impact and investment opportunities. He states that "clean tech needs to get to self-sufficiency in the next three to five years, otherwise the industry will start to stall out."

There is promise, though. "It’s not an infant industry anymore," says Dvorchak. "There’s huge activity going on—there are solar installations, windmill farms, renewable energy initiatives. There are a lot of jobs—I’d say we’re at mid-stage of development. Within five years I think we’re going to look back on development in the industry and realize this has become bigger than we realized."

The Many Segments of Clean Tech 

Dvorchak describes clean tech as being made up of different segments that are more familiar to consumers:

• Energy: wind, solar, geothermal, nuclear and wave power
• Fuels: ethanol, biofuels/biodiesel, chemicals (enzymes) and biological (algaes)
• Recycling: basic (including appliances, carbon dioxide-capturing) and electronic (including computers)

Within the vast energy segment, the most intense activities are taking place in the wind and solar power areas. Windmill farms are cropping up in southern California and throughout the plains of the Midwest, where there is considerable wind to harness. Iowa boasts that 14% of its electric power is sourced from wind—the highest in the nation. Solar installations are appearing where the sun shines more frequently than in other parts of the country—this is especially true in the Southwest.

Despite the increased emergence of windmills, solar panels, hybrid vehicles and neighborhood recycling centers, Dvorchak asserts, "Europe is much further ahead in clean tech development than the United States is. Actually we’re behind relative to the size of our economy—we’re kind of laggard." An unanticipated leader in clean tech is China—surprising, given its recently tarnished reputation for producing lead-containing children’s toys. He suspects that they’re moving further ahead because there’s considerable pollution and a much larger, dispersed population.

Ways for Individuals and Companies to Take Advantage of Clean Tech

Dvorchak says that at the individual level, there are two key ways to take advantage of clean tech: through investment and employment. If you have a portfolio, you may consider purchasing stock in specific companies that are developing or installing clean technologies—a lot of them are publicly traded. Bigger investors with access to venture capital can invest in the development of newer technologies. It’s wise to pay attention to what’s going on in this industry from this perspective.

If you’re either in college or thinking of returning in order to switch careers, you may consider degree programs that are relevant to the clean tech industry. Also think about the companies you’d like to work for. A lot of them are taking advantage of tons of venture capital opportunities rolling out these clean technologies.

And at the corporate level? "Larger companies can look at their power needs," suggests Dvorchak. "There’s the opportunity to go off-grid—corporate campuses can install fuel cells instead of tapping into local power. Companies—and individuals as well—can take advantage of federal tax credits to install solar panels or windmills for power, or geothermal units for heating. Sure, there can be high upfront costs, which is why it’s wise to do the math first to see if the resulting savings are worth the cost and effort. Right now there are a lot of tax credits to encourage those investments."