Staff analysis

In the past two weeks alone, the Cleantech Group's reporters have spotted quite a bit of activity in the water industry, underscoring again the importance of water as a cleantech category.

Recent stories include Grundfos six-month test of a new compact wastewater treatment technology; Coca-Cola’s 16 rain water harvesting projects in India; Brunel University spin out, WaterBoxs’ disaster relief efforts and H20 Innovation India joint venture between Chembond Chemical and H20 Innovation.

The foundation of Israel's cleantech industry was laid with the beginning of the kibbutz (collective communities) movement at the start of the 20th century, even before the modern state of Israel was founded.

More signs of the ascendancy of renewables and the waning of conventional energy, at least in Europe, according to two new reports:

1. Wind installations were up dramatically in 2009 despite the recession, driven by China, and accounted for the largest proportion of new power installations in the world, says one report, and
2. In Europe, more nuclear and coal capacity were decommissioned than installed in 2009, according to the other

The Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC), a trade group for the wind industry, the wind power market grew by 31 percent in 2009, adding 37.5 GW of installations to bring capacity up to 157.9 GW.

The Cleantech Group’s flagship annual event, Cleantech Forum® XXVI San Francisco, is just around the corner: February 24th through the 26th.

As in years past, it's the chance to hear from and connect with leading cleantech investors, innovators and corporate executives.

Browse the agenda and you'll see scores of names you'll immediately recognize, including:

The importance of rare earth elements (REE) and lithium to cleantech is well known.

REE are used in technologies such as wind turbine generators, electric vehicle motors, fuel cells and energy efficient lighting.

Similarly, lithium-ion has become the battery of choice for electric vehicle makers, turning lithium into a strategically important metal as the world begins to electrify its automobile fleet.

But how well known are the supply and demand forecasts for these materials?

China produces 97 percent of the world's REE, and has been continually tightening the amount of material available for export over the past 7 years.

When it comes to renewable energy, are solar, wind, hydroelectric and geothermal all the industry has to offer?

Au contraire, fellow cleantech enthusiasts.

Many more niche renewable energies are also under development and harnessing power from interesting places and using ways that have never been done before.

Here are a few that have caught my eye recently.

Mechanical energy from piezoelectric generators
Israel-based Innowattech has developed a new alternative energy system that harvests mechanical energy imparted to roadways, railways and runways from passing vehicles, trains and pedestrian traffic and converts it into electricity by installing generators beneath a road's asphalt layer.

Israeli clean technology companies including Caesarea based Emefcy and Sha`ar Hefer based EPC could benefit from 37 new regulations for treating wastewater that have recently been approved under the legislative branch of the Israeli government.

Emefcy’s technology produces electricity from the wastewater treatment process, using microbial fuel cell technology, and is expected to help reduce energy costs at wastewater plants (see Two Israeli wastewater firms to locate in Michigan).

Consider, for a moment, the United Arab Emirates as microcosm and metaphor for the human condition.

The story goes like this: Early settlers eking out a hardscrabble existence suddenly discover the riches of the natural resources under their feet. They harvest them, prosper, build gleaming monuments to their own cleverness, grow plump and happy... and multiply. And multiply.

Suddenly, there are so many that continued growth seems perilous. And the reckoning begins.

There are tons of cleantech-related companies competing in the metering space and looking to participate in the so-called smart grid movement. The movement is being spearheaded in the United States and spurred by government stimulus funds, but Fairfield, Conn.-based General Electric is now stepping up its game in China.

GE (NYSE:GE) recently announced it is teaming with the Chinese city of Yangzhou to bring smart grid technologies to China. Yangzhou is located on the Yangtze River in China’s Jiangsu province.

We at the Cleantech Group think 2009 will go down in the record books as a pretty good year, after all is told.

Despite the macro economic climate, even the preliminary global numbers the Cleantech Group issued last week reporting on 2009 show almost as many deals, 557 (the red line you see in the graph below ) as we tracked last year, 2008, the record year of cleantech investment.

And the dollar value for 2009, at $5.64 billion for the year, is already close to the final 2007 total of $6.05 billion.

By the time our data team finalizes the 2009 in the next month, we expect we’ll see a record number of deals, and at a total value around that of 2007. That would make 2009 the second best year on record for cleantech.