Now, I’m no eco-warrior – yes I recycle and catch the train to work, but I also drive a Land Rover and probably have a higher than average household electricity consumption because of the amount of gadgetry around the house – but clean tech investment just seems to make sense doesn’t it?  Make money and help save the planet? Sounds like a win-win to me.....but not to the investment community it seems.

How can those cash-hungry bankers sleep at night knowing that they invested in quick return, 2^nd-dot-com-bubble start-ups but turned down the opportunity to provide clean energy to thousands by letting solar plants slip by?  Well I am sure they sleep rather well actually on their comfy pillow-top mattresses, under Egyptian cotton thank you very much.

VC investment in clean tech actually rose in Q1 2011 vs, Q4 2010, the first time ever....however overall investment dipped...when I say dipped, I mean dropped off the chart. Yes there have been extraordinary deals to be found, such as Fisker’s ongoing money-run and even our very own Intelligent Energy but by and large we’re really struggling to hit the highs of 2010’s record $243bn of clean tech investment.

So what can be done? Should every investment vehicle be obligated to make ethical/planet savings investments? I dare say by channelling off 1% of all tech investments to renewable energy projects or similar during 2011 would give the sector a rather nice boost wouldn’t it? Yes I realise this is a simplistic view but I can’t help ranting when you see millions being dropped on one year old company that has yet to make any revenues...

Rant over.

Matt