A lot of “This Week in Innovation” has examined alternative fuel, and the conceptual and in-production vehicles that will consume this fuel. Thus, this week we will skip the highlights from around different industries and focus in on “Cleantech”.

Cleantech is a burgeoning sector and is defined by SustainLane Government as:

• Energy generation, management and storage, and energy efficiency, including solar, wind, geothermal, fuels cell and hydrogen
• Transportation: advanced transportation technologies, biofuels
• Materials and Green Building: includes advanced materials and engineering approaches, materials recovery
• Water and air related technologies

According to the Cleantech Venture Network, out of $25.5 billion invested by Venture Capital firms in 2006, $2.9 billion went to Cleantech. Just like with every other industry, there are always regional hubs or “clusters” of innovation. We know these as the Silicon Valley, and Milan for IT tech and fashion respectively. The development of clusters depend heavily on collaboration between city/state/federal governments, universities, companies, and of course investment/venture capital. Five primary cities have already been identified as the leaders in this Cleantech evolution. These are in order:

• Austin, TX
• San Jose, CA
• Berkeley, CA
• Pasadena, CA
• Boston, MA Area
• (San Diego, CA was a runner up)

Inside of these clusters we are already finding incubators, and support from regional or city governments that are creating synergies with the start-up companies, local universities and a national focus to develop the CleanTech industry. In other words, where there is a will there is way. In Austin for example, there is the Clean Energy Incubator (CEI) which serves as a starting point to a larger and more broadly focused system of innovation in not just this region, but across the US. The mission of this organization is simple as they find and give the resources Cleantech companies require to make a timely and successful impact into the market. This is collaborative effort with the Austin Technology Incubator (ATI) and the IC2 Institute at the University of Texas at Austin and the Texas State Energy Conservation Office. On a broad scale, CEI has also teamed up with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and the The National Alliance of Clean Energy Business Incubators. Lastly, most of these clusters are in CA. However, in another light, the leading cluster for CleanTech is in the same state as the global headquarters of big oil.

Looking forward to the next decade while juxtaposing global warming, the so-called war on “terror” and the US’s overall abysmal investment into science and technology at all layers, it is initiatives and collaboration such as the one highlighted in Austin and other these Cleantech clusters that will lead to a competitive, growth industry that will progress the evolution from fossil fuels to cleaner fuels. In addition, it could also put the US back on the map for finding and committing to an innovative solution to worldwide challenges. Hopefully, Cleantech won’t become polarized into a republican or democratic issue and hinder its development. Already when $2.9 billion dollars are invested, it’s a green issue….And that’s green on both accounts.