On February 5th, I had the pleasure of presenting at TEDxOxford outlining my belief that there is no such thing as ‘Cleantech’, arguing that technology which operates efficiently is by its very nature environmentally friendly.
My talk, titled ‘Cleantech Changes Everything’, discussed how there is no such thing as ‘cleantech’, just technology. To be efficient, technology must by its very nature be on the development journey to clean.
The pretext of calling things ‘cleantech’, ‘green’, ‘sustainable’ and ‘smart’ has detracted from the celebration of the considerable technological progress humankind has made. Indeed, labels such as these can act as barriers to the finance sector’s confidence levels for innovative new technologies.
Energy use, environmental impact and resource efficiency have always been significant considerations to the industrial sector. The bar is simply and, quite correctly, being raised.
We are seeing increasing numbers of investment opportunities in industrial technology and this is indicative of a hunger for technology that reduces emissions. It should no longer be about ‘cleantech’; it is about all technology needing to be more efficient to meet the changing demands of the world’s economy.