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The Clean Tech Revolution: Discover the Top Trends, Technologies, and Companies to Watch
Newly revised with the latest market trends and growth opportunities In The Clean Tech Revolution , authors Ron Pernick and Clint Wilder identify the major forces that have pushed clean tech from back-to-the-earth utopian dream to its current revolution among the inner circles of corporate boardrooms, on Wall Street trading floors, and in government offices around the globe. By highlighting eight major clean-tech sectors—solar energy, wind power, biofuels and biomaterials, green buildings, personal transportation, the smart grid, mobile applications, and water filtration—they uncover how investors, entrepreneurs, and individuals can profit from this next wave of technological innovation. Pernick and Wilder shine the spotlight on the winners among technologies, companies, and regions that are likely to reap the greatest benefits from clean tech—and they show you why the time to act is now.
313 pages, Paperback
First published June 12, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
September 3, 2007
Read this book if you want a comprehensive, if US-centric, rundown of cutting edge energy saving and emissions reducing solutions available today, but be prepared for the rhetoric of revolution.
Co-authors Ron Pernick and Clint Wilder are founder and managing director respectively of Clean Edge, a California-based research and publishing firm, so its not surprising they appear completely sold on the potential for clean tech and assume the reader is too.
There is little debate around the nuances of climate science, nor any arguments or evidence put forward for a particular energy policy, say coal-based, over another, say renewable energy-based. And there is little critical evaluation of the technologies presented – the book is positive throughout, as George Orwell might put it, it is just more positive about some technologies than others.
Still, the book is probably essential reading for what the layman or investor who is interested in climate change and wants to know what is being done about it. It presents a whole gamut of solutions, ranging from the visible, user-oriented industries like solar, biofuels, wind, green buildings and vehicles, to the less often discussed energy grid, mobile device and – though it has more to do with public health than energy policy – water treatment.
As mentioned, it is US-centric; many back-end solutions in energy efficiency (more relevant to manufacturing economies in Asia), or forestry and agriculture (more relevant to farming societies in Africa), are not mentioned. All ten of the clean tech hubs described in the penultimate chapter are in North America or Europe, save for Shanghai and Hyderabad, which perhaps has more to do with American insecurity about the rise of C and I than their genuine clean hub-ness. (Oh, Singapore is mentioned, in a passing reference to Hyflux and NEWater.)
What the book is certainly not is the blurb on the front cover: “required reading for any responsible citizen of this planet.” For that, the more visionary Cradle-to-Cradle, the imaginative The World Without Us, or even good old Jared Diamond’s vastly more scientific and entertaining Collapse, are recommended.
Co-authors Ron Pernick and Clint Wilder are founder and managing director respectively of Clean Edge, a California-based research and publishing firm, so its not surprising they appear completely sold on the potential for clean tech and assume the reader is too.
There is little debate around the nuances of climate science, nor any arguments or evidence put forward for a particular energy policy, say coal-based, over another, say renewable energy-based. And there is little critical evaluation of the technologies presented – the book is positive throughout, as George Orwell might put it, it is just more positive about some technologies than others.
Still, the book is probably essential reading for what the layman or investor who is interested in climate change and wants to know what is being done about it. It presents a whole gamut of solutions, ranging from the visible, user-oriented industries like solar, biofuels, wind, green buildings and vehicles, to the less often discussed energy grid, mobile device and – though it has more to do with public health than energy policy – water treatment.
As mentioned, it is US-centric; many back-end solutions in energy efficiency (more relevant to manufacturing economies in Asia), or forestry and agriculture (more relevant to farming societies in Africa), are not mentioned. All ten of the clean tech hubs described in the penultimate chapter are in North America or Europe, save for Shanghai and Hyderabad, which perhaps has more to do with American insecurity about the rise of C and I than their genuine clean hub-ness. (Oh, Singapore is mentioned, in a passing reference to Hyflux and NEWater.)
What the book is certainly not is the blurb on the front cover: “required reading for any responsible citizen of this planet.” For that, the more visionary Cradle-to-Cradle, the imaginative The World Without Us, or even good old Jared Diamond’s vastly more scientific and entertaining Collapse, are recommended.
May 31, 2008
I added one extra star to my rating for the importance of the subject matter. Otherwise, this book is a little light on substance. It reads more like an extended brochure for the clean tech industries. The author does cover a wide range of industries from solar to wind to water, etc. Maybe it is the idea of looking at human-race-saving technologies from a money making point of view that is a bit of a turn off. But that is exactly how we should be looking at it to ensure the proliferation of clean technologies. This book would have been better if he went into deeper detail in each category. The author does a good job in providing investment ideas and opportunities though some of the companies have run up in price in the years since this book was published.
February 2, 2008
This is a high level and clearly biased overiew of the various areas of clean tech (solar energy, wind energy, biofuels, biomaterials, smartgrid technology, water filtration and purification). It was written to be accessible for the non-expert. As such it's filled with hyperbole, jargon and cliches. It's not a bad read, but I would make several recommendations to the authors on how to better present their conclusions and data. It is not well tied together, although there are valuable nuggets to be mined from the book.
January 30, 2018
The Clean Tech Revolution was the first book I read for my school project. It is a very interesting book since it has a lot of information on changing from gas- solar, wind, or energy power. I inspire everyone of all age to read this book, as it can help us save the environment in a better way, without damaging the economy.
September 23, 2007
Like a previous reviewer said, this isn't "required reading" (despite the blurb on the cover); it's probably not going to change the way you think about clean tech or anything like that.
What this book *is* is an optimistic overview of the state of clean tech today and some of the challenges it still faces. It isn't *super* deep, but it can be a really good starting point if you want to learn more about different clean tech sectors because...
-you're thinking about investing money in clean technologies
-you're a government official trying to bring clean tech innovations or industry to your city/region
-you're starting school or thinking about changing jobs and want new ideas for your career path
-you want to be a clean tech entrepreneur
-you're marketing a clean/green product (There's a basic but really solid chapter on marketing clean tech well - in short, if you want to sell to the mainstream, then don't market it based solely on green elitism or environmental guilt. It has to look as cool, work as well, and cost as little as your competitor's product before *most* people will consider it.)
-you're simply curious about what's been going on in the field nowadays
It's a quick read. The book mentions plenty of individual companies and technologies without going into too much depth; you can easily google them for more information.
What this book *is* is an optimistic overview of the state of clean tech today and some of the challenges it still faces. It isn't *super* deep, but it can be a really good starting point if you want to learn more about different clean tech sectors because...
-you're thinking about investing money in clean technologies
-you're a government official trying to bring clean tech innovations or industry to your city/region
-you're starting school or thinking about changing jobs and want new ideas for your career path
-you want to be a clean tech entrepreneur
-you're marketing a clean/green product (There's a basic but really solid chapter on marketing clean tech well - in short, if you want to sell to the mainstream, then don't market it based solely on green elitism or environmental guilt. It has to look as cool, work as well, and cost as little as your competitor's product before *most* people will consider it.)
-you're simply curious about what's been going on in the field nowadays
It's a quick read. The book mentions plenty of individual companies and technologies without going into too much depth; you can easily google them for more information.
October 20, 2007
Nothing earth shattering in this book. It is a lengthy whitepaper on the topic. The biggest weakness of the book is that it does not propose a cost benefit analysis, a company valuation or a ROI. Yet, it proposes to recommend the next big growth and investment opportunities. In other words there are no hard numbers to really support the new technologies. In summation, this book is a collection of ideas culled from headlines and business journals.
March 5, 2008
This book provides good insight to the various ideas out there that involve "Clean Tech." In particular it deals with the energy issues that we (are?) will be facing in the future and all the options that sit on the table. The book also highlights the current leading companies for each respective area. Would be a book for anyone interested in the Green movement or investing, or an even better book for those that are interested in both.
March 15, 2010
Fairly comprehensive survey of the clean-tech industry, including power generation, construction sector, transport, etc. Interestingly, the author does not include "clean coal" and nuclear as part of cleantech. The top companies in each sector are also analyzed - would be interesting to see where these companies are in a few years. It was good to see a couple of Indian companies mentioned (Suzlon (wind energy) and Reva (electric cars)).
September 5, 2008
A great primer on the state of the clean energy industry for investors or just the idly curious. The authors go through industry by industry and highlight the relevant companies in each. A great read for anyone looking for clues as to where the next bull market in stocks might come from. Highly informative and very accessible.
February 9, 2008
Interesting book on the future of renewable energy technologies. This is a book that I enjoy because of the field of work I'm in, but anyone interested in business and/or renewable energy would probably like it.
October 8, 2008
This is a well thought out book. It is especially helpful if you are looking to invest in GREEN Companies. A good deal of thought and research went into the layout and developing of the book. The Author's have a fantastic GREEN website. An educational read.
May 20, 2011
Well written and informative, but not exactly a page turner. It also doesn't help that this edition is several years old, as the subject matter is changing so fast. In any case, I enjoyed it and felt I learned a lot.
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May 27, 2015It was an amazing book and it was very helpful. I used this book for a science project and covered all the information that I needed for the report. It was very well written had lots of facts and statistics.
July 8, 2008
A simple overview of the sectors within green business. Not much real substance of the real issues concerning each sector.
August 20, 2008
Great book to see what's already happened in business as far as strides towards a greener way of existing and making money. Very quick read.
February 10, 2009
great book that breaks down leading investment opportunities in clean tech. read this before the economy hit the crapper.
September 22, 2011
sort of high level compiled facts, some hype, but more depth kept missing.
June 11, 2023
The book was written a little over a decade ago however so much of the content was relevant. I thoroughly enjoyed googling the companies mentioned in the book to see if they exist today.
January 25, 2008
Good if you don't know much about clean tech, boring if you do.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews