Calif. cleantech industry faces competition

Should California fail to produce cleantech companies that aggressively compete in domestic and global markets, other nations that are adopting policies and providing financial support for the cleantech 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 cleantech investment in the second quarter, accounting for 70 percent of U.S. cleantech 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 cleantech 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.

“With a strong strategy of our own to deploy clean energy, we can remain competitive with countries like China and Germany,” R. Sean Randolph, president and chief executive officer of the Bay Area Council Economic Institute and author of the report, said in a news release. “If we fail, the state’s leadership and thousands of current and future jobs are at risk.”

Read more in the Sacramento Business Journal.