Cleantech - Ignition cleantech sessions-2009 - Ernst & Young - Global

Ignition cleantech sessions — 2009

This is the fourth year that Ernst & Young has held its Cleantech Ignition roundtable discussions across the globe. This year, the sessions were held in Munich on May 26 and San Francisco on June 17. Combined, the two sessions brought together nearly 90 top executives, entrepreneurs, investors, advisors and regulators to discuss the current cleantech financing and regulatory landscape, and spot emerging innovation trends in the industry.

The sessions focused on the recent challenges facing the cleantech industry due to the credit crunch and global economic slowdown, as well as the fresh opportunities that have come with government stimulus spending, climate change related regulations, and increased involvement of corporations in the cleantech space. Participants focused on challenges in securing financing, developing new business models, forging productive partnerships, and adopting to government regulation and spending — all in the context of the current slowdown.

Breakout discussions focused on innovations in business models, partnerships and financing in three key technology areas: solar, smart grid/smart metering and electric vehicles.

 
Key points:

• Consumer demand has to increase in order to put pressure on government regulators to set standards to speed the technology to market, decrease carbon emissions, provide grants and loan guarantees to emerging companies, and create subsidies for technological adoption.
• Emerging companies need to moderate their exit expectations, and settle into a long-term cycle of business development, with a heavier focus on building industry-leading talent and teams.
• Cleantech companies need to continue making the incremental gains in technology that make their products more valuable to consumers.
• Regulation, incentives/subsidies and government’s adoption of clean energy and other technologies are seen as having the greatest impact on the cleantech industry’s growth.
• The cost of energy, climate change, energy security, scarcity of natural resources and technology development are also expected to significantly impact the sector.
• The impacts of ongoing funding from the US stimulus package will not likely spell meaningful relief for another 12 to 18 months due to delays in standing up the programs enacted by legislation. Even so, the stimulus package will be an important accelerator for the industry when the funds ultimately reach the market.
• Cleantech companies must remain highly focused on executing their business plans even as they position for federal funding.
• The venture capital model that proved so effective for information technology, biotech and medical devices will need to adapt to the capital intensity demands and longer timeframes for exits in cleantech.
• Large multinational corporations will play a major part in the industry’s expansion as partners and investors in cleantech companies, as well as purchasers of clean technologies.
• The gap in funding sources for commercial-scale deployment of cleantech remains a real challenge for the industry during the current global financial crisis. The capital formation value chain is going through substantial changes.
• Cleantech companies can’t expect to grow without partnerships — in fact, it will likely take multiple partnerships to integrate infrastructure controlled by major companies and span the industry’s lengthy time horizon from the visionary stage to commercial readiness.
• Any global agreement that comes out of the Copenhagen negotiations later this year must set a ceiling or otherwise put a price on carbon emissions, and include developed and developing nations alike. 

• Cleantech ignition session 2009 - session agenda