Sacramento Business Journal: California’s clean-tech industry faces increasing competition
Should California fail to produce clean-tech companies that aggressively compete in domestic and global markets, other nations that are adopting policies and providing financial support for the clean-tech sector will fill the void, costing California jobs and economic growth, according to a Bay Area Council Economic Institute report released Tuesday.
California’s success as a leader in energy and climate policy and cutting-edge clean-energy technology development needs to be seen in a global context, according to the report.
According to the institute, a public-private partnership of business, labor, government and higher education, California attracted more than $1 billion in clean-tech investment in the second quarter, accounting for 70 percent of U.S. clean-tech investment and 50 percent of global investment in the sector.
But the bar is being set by Germany, a global leader in solar and wind, and China, which has emerged as a major global producer of solar, wind, battery and other clean-tech products.
China is now the word’s leading supplier of solar panels, accounting for 30 percent of world production, and is tied with the United States for installed renewable energy capacity but is growing its capacity three times faster.
