Hispanic-Net

Carbon Trading - You too can be GREEN

At the September Cleantech event, we were fortunate to have Alfredo Cahuas and Wess Miller of Evolution Markets in San Francisco come present on cleantech investments and to give an overview of carbon trading markets. It was a great seminar event and covered this huge space with tons of information.

As many of you know, cleantech investments have grown tremendously. Latest reports are pegging the last quarter of VC investments to be up 50% over last year's level in some categories. The 1H of 2007 had over $10B. But, the highlight of the evening was the discussion on carbon trading markets.

Cleantech Information Sources

There are tons of information sources on cleantech today and new ones popping up all the time. It's hard to keep track of them all. I've gathered some for you and separated them as by News & Information and Blogs. Hopefully, you can visit these sites to find all sort of new and interesting information, companies and insights into this rapidly changing arena.

New Ideas from the California Clean Tech Open

Over the last 3 months I’ve been involved in the California Clean Tech Open (CCTO). It’s been great and as a volunteer to the event I’ve had the opportunity to meet lots of interesting folks, make connections, and learn about the next great ideas in the clean tech space.

New Executives Jobs for Going Green

Remember way back in the dawn of the information age when it became vitally important that companies had an executive level strategy for dealing with he corporate information technology and services? Fortune 1000 companies all started hiring Chief Information Officers. An interesting parallel is showing up now that green is considered good for all companies. Enter the Chief Sustainability Officer ( or equivalent) positions that are now beginning to spring up on jobs boards, Linked In and recruiters radar screens. This is an amazing change from where we were just a few short years ago. Companies across the board are looking to environmental programs to advance their competitive advantage. It doesn't matter whether you are talking about technology, distribution, food service, etc.... companies in all sectors are beginning to respond to changes in the market perception in order to keep existing and attract new customers.

Those of you who have real experience in environmental programs are at the right place, at the right time. If you are thinking of pursuing environemental science, these opportunities are just starting to appear. So, it's a good time to follow your dream.

The Next 4 Billion - BOP Market

At this year's TiECON, I had the opportunity to listen to Dr. Allan Hammond of the World Resources Institute. Guess what? The Base of the Pyramid, those 4B people with annual purchasing power of less than $3000USD, represents a $5 Trillion market. Dr. Hammond outlined the WRI's report, The Next 4 Billion, and gave a compelling case as to why this market is being targeted by entrepreneurs and huge multi-national corporations as the next big segment to fuel revenue growth.

World’s Richest is Carlos Slim

It’s been announced and covered by several news services that Carlos Slim of Mexico now has the top spot as the world’s richest person. He tops the list at an estimated $67.8B, ending 13 years of Bill Gates on the leader board. This is the first time in my lifetime that a Hispanic has achieved this honor. In researching the story, I’ve noticed more titles talk about Bill Gates losing the title, rather than Carlos achieving the milestone. There is no better indication of how far we’ve come than having a Hispanic exemplify wealth creation at the highest recognizable global level. It gives us all something to shoot for.

For more information see this article in Hispanic Business.

Opportunities in Clean Energy

The major area of clean tech venture investment activity has been in renewable and alternative energy sources. In 2006 investments were $2.4B, up from 2005’s $917M. More interesting, clean energy investments make up close to 10% of the total venture dollars invested according to CleanEdge’s 2007 Clean Energy Trends report. The report also predicts that the markets associated with clean energy are predicated to quadruple to over $226B in 2016.

 

So, what are the implications of these trends to Hispanic entrepreneurs?

What is Clean Tech and Why Should I Care?

Clean Tech is one of the hottest growth areas attracting entrepreneurs, venture investment, and government attention. I’ve been looking at this area since 2005, mostly because I thought it was an industry that represented

Silicon Valley’s best chance of continued leadership. Today, you can’t avoid hearing or reading something about global warming, green house gasses, solar, wind, energy efficiency, hybrids, green buildings and now carbon credits. New companies are getting launched every day and venture investment in this space has increased in the U.S. and Canadato $2.9B for 2006.

So, what exactly is clean tech? The best definition I’ve seen is from the Cleantech Venture Network. Clean Tech covers a broad range of products, services, and processes across industries designed to:

· Provide superior performance at lower costs

· Improve the productive and responsible use of natural resources

· Greatly reduce or eliminate negative ecological impact