What is a clean tech company?

Defining clean tech can be a bit tricky.  Everyone these days want to claim they are green.  And many non-clean-tech companies employ more green practices than those who fit the category.  Roughly though, we consider the primary objectives of the company.  Is the company’s primary product or service intended to have an environmental benefit?  Is company utilizing or developing relatively new technology?

Many technology companies, for example, have adopted many green practices. Yet their technologies are intended for other purposes (computing, accounting, etc).  On the other hand, a bicycle repair shop, might have as its mission the goal of getting more people to ride to work, yet we can’t really call this a technology company.

Now.  Here’s where it gets sticky.  Some activists and politicians want to draw boundaries between clean and really clean.  For example, many will admit that carbon storage technology would help with global climate change.  Yet they argue that our nation’s resources should be devoted only to alternative energy development, such as wind and solar.  Here at Utah Clean Tech, we won’t get involved in these kind of prioritization debates.  If the technology has a primary environmental benefit, it’s clean tech.  And we’ll talk about it here.  We’ll save those tough funding decisions for those with cash!