Cleantech Trendspotting

We aren’t the only ones who went looking for trends and predictions for 2008. Here’s some highlights from around the blogosphere: Predictably, ZDNet chose to focus on the impact of technology, both pro and con, on the budding green revolution. An interesting note is their take on the future of paper and printing. Laser printers, especially, are power-hog workhorses and any significant reduction in their use is going to be a victory for reduction of material waste, power consumption, and plain old tree-loving. They also mention virtualization, which we’ve touched on before, and continues to be a fantastic idea. The only thing we would add to their list is the likelihood of a big-time announcement from the Google-spearheaded green workstation project. Jetson Green makes green building the worthy focus of their prediction list, and rightfully so since it’s also the focus of their very excellent blog. They like how the market is going to drive green building this year, and we can’t disagree. LEED certification may see a competitor emerge in the third-party certification game, and it may very well be the government. Despite recent failures in initiatives to green up building codes (and notably, not failures at the ballot box), it seems very likely that this year will see a turnaround in that trend. Look for Seattle or all of Washington State to go first, since California dropped the ball. Over at Earth2Tech, they’ve hit on a wide variety of predictions. The two we like are the growing importance of energy policy at a time when it’s going to interface neatly with a major US Presidential election, and the positive outlook for increased VC investment. A lot of the technologies and projects that have been invested in over the past couple of years at astonishing levels will start to mature, giving investors more to latch onto in terms of tangible advances. The only quibble with their list is the question of energy transmission lines; certainly they are in need of upgrade, but that only points to a greater need to embrace microgeneration at the local and individual level. Long distance transmission of power should start on the long road into the west this year, supplanted by clean and cheap local power generation. The failings of energy infrastructure here should not result in a call to replace that infrastructure, piece by piece, but supplant it entirely with a new paradigm. In all, 2008 is shaping up to be a rather dynamic year, as demonstrated by the breadth of predictions out there for cleantech and green building. Notable in the lists is that none of them overlapped in any significant way, demonstrating the many directions in which the movement seems to be penetrating our lives. It’s going to be an exciting thing to watch.

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