While the economy as a whole is facing challenges such as climbing interest rates, the clean energy sector is coming off of one of its strongest years yet.
Investments into renewables and other sustainable energy sources surpassed $1 trillion in 2022.
As Bloomberg reported, this is the first time the amount of money spent on clean energy has matched spending on dirty energy sources like oil and gas. And according to Climate Tech VC, 2023 will see continued sector growth.
"We have not seen any slowdown in activity, in interest, in company formation, or in talent coming into climate tech," Sarah Sclarsic, co-founder and managing partner at investment firm Voyager, told Emerging Tech Brew (ETB).
She went on to say, "I think this speaks to the fact that there's a very foundational problem that's being addressed by these companies that are building climate solutions, which is the climate crisis, and that's unfortunately not going away on its own."
Last year saw a nearly 90% increase in "clean tech" investments compared to 2021 — a clear signal that the sector is poised for continued growth.
"There is a lot more optimism in the clean energy and whole clean tech transition that we're seeing, compared to other parts of the economy," Ryan Panchadsaram, technical advisor to John Doerr at Kleiner Perkins told ETB. "It's a world of investing in new technologies that could truly beat the old—on cost, on performance, and a lot of things.
"Sure, we've got to work our way down these cost curves," he continued, "but I think the reason why you're seeing investor optimism is that they do see true growth in this area."
Renewable energy and other clean tech efforts are key to addressing climate change. They may also offer significant cost savings. A recent report from Arup and Oxford Economics found that a shift to a net-zero economy could offer savings of more than $10 trillion by 2050.
"[T]he green transition is not a burden on the global economy, but a substantial opportunity to bring about a greater and more inclusive prosperity," Brice Richard, global strategy skills leader at Arup and author of the report, wrote.
Want more? Follow The Cool Down on Instagram and join our Weekly Newsletter for cool stories and easy tips that save you money, time, and our planet.
Cool Picks
