R
rdaner
Guest
Where exactly would this new cluster be located?
Toronto asleep at cleantech switch
Feb 26, 2007 04:30 AM
Tyler Hamilton
Last week, Toronto city council's parks and environment committee gave environmentalists a chance to share some ideas on how to turn our beloved city into the greenest municipality on Earth.
One suggestion out of the dozens of recommendations was to establish a clean technology, or "cleantech," cluster that would draw investment and jobs to the city and surrounding areas.
It's an excellent idea, and one that should have been pursued years ago. The truth is, as Toronto ponders ways to green up its image, other cities in Canada, namely Vancouver, and many throughout the United States have done a much better job at establishing economic clusters around the clean-technology opportunity.
This isn't to say Toronto hasn't embraced technologies that improve energy efficiency, generate emission-free power, clean up water, and reduce pollution – one need only look at Exhibition Place to see examples of such leadership. But so far the city has neglected the opportunity of fostering such innovation in its own backyard, at least in any kind of organized fashion.
"We're asleep as the switch. We're about three years behind," says Toronto native Nicholas Parker, co-founder and chairman of the Cleantech Venture Network, a group based out of Ann Arbor, Mich., that brings together innovative new companies developing clean technologies and early-stage investors who see tremendous growth ahead.
"In our view, over the next five-year period, at least 1.4 million high-quality direct jobs will result from venture investment that's going into this space, globally. Who's going to get those jobs? Shanghai? Stockholm? Silicon Valley? Or Toronto? The race is on to create those jurisdictions that are going to capture these jobs."
The competition is heating up south of the border. According to recent research from San Francisco-based SustainLane, the five top U.S. cleantech clusters are Austin, Texas; San Jose, Berkeley and Pasadena, Calif.; and Boston, Mass.
Austin, for example, formed a clean-energy incubator in 2001 managed out of the University Texas. About seven companies work on a range of technologies, such as Internet-controlled irrigation systems and new geothermal products. They also do their development in close association with local utility Austin Energy, which has opened up the grid as a test bed for new products.
San Jose, the heart of Silicon Valley, has managed to revive itself after the dot-com bust by turning its attention to everything from next-generation solar technologies to energy-management software. "The Valley's long-time leadership in engineering know-how, combined with semi-conductor, nanotechnology and optics R&D gives it a leg up in renewable energy development," according to SustainLane.
Much of San Jose's success – and this would apply to Berkeley and Pasadena as well – is the fact that California aggressively promotes renewable energy development and deployment through a combination of supportive policy and tempting incentives. It's why SunPower, Nanosolar, OptiSolar, NuEdison and many other solar technology ventures have set up shop in the Valley.
San Jose has also established an "Environmental Business Cluster," which has partnerships with regional utility Pacific Gas & Electric and San Jose State University. The mission is to promote the development of alternative fuels, vehicles, and materials that are more efficient and greener by design.
Berkeley, meanwhile, is trying to become a global centre for biofuel innovation. Earlier this month energy giant BP announced it would invest $500 million (U.S.) in research into clean energy in partnership with the University of California, Berkeley, which would be home to a new research organization called the Energy Biosciences Institute. Its mission is to "perform ground-breaking research aimed at the production of new and cleaner energy, initially focusing on renewable biofuels for road transport."
In Pasadena, the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and NASA's Jet Propulsion Labs have provided fertile ground for cleantech ventures to take root. The same goes for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which has been a supportive environment for emerging companies in the Boston area that are focused on renewable energy and energy efficiency.
Common to all these locations is a support structure that connects academia with industry, the financial sector and government. Toronto has all the pieces to this puzzle, but hasn't taken the time to pull them all together.
Toronto is the financial centre of the country and is surrounded by an unrivalled network of colleges and universities, each one playing to its own strengths – whether nanotechnology and advanced materials at the University of Toronto or agri-science at the University of Guelph or energy-systems engineering at St. Lawrence College, to name just a few.
The city owns an innovative utility in Toronto Hydro, and is headquarters to Ontario Power Generation and Hydro One. We've got Exhibition Place, which has proven a willing test bed for new green technologies and a perfect forum for showcasing them. We're also surrounded by major automakers such as General Motors, Ford and Toyota, all of which are putting tremendous resources into designing more efficient cars that use alternative energy sources. Why should innovation go to Detroit, Tokyo and Beijing?
Finally, we've got a province that is leading North America in smart meter deployment, incentives for renewable power generation, and its commitment (despite delays) of shutting down all coal plants. Ontario's energy system also needs an overhaul, a perfect time to adopt cleaner technologies.
There's no reason why Toronto can't be a cleantech cluster – a home for clean technology innovation and a magnet for investment. "I think Toronto has this ability," says Parker. "We can be a player in this."
And the city doesn't have to stand on its own. As Parker suggests, Toronto could be part of a cleantech corridor in southern Ontario that is dotted with smaller, specialized clusters — say, in Waterloo, Guelph, Mississauga, Toronto and Ottawa.
Parker is perhaps better positioned than anyone else to appreciate the opportunity. He practically coined the term "cleantech" and for the past few years has held venture capital conferences around the theme. His most recent conference, last week in San Francisco, was his biggest and most successful yet, and there's no sign that interest in the sector is slowing down.
Why would it? Global warming tops the headlines. Top economists are urging governments to embrace carbon regulations and trading systems. Peak oil concerns haunt us, and energy security is a growing concern. Whether we're trying to adapt to climate change or lower the emissions causing it, new technologies will be needed to address issues such as water scarcity, pollution, CO{-2} emissions and energy self-sufficiency.
Parker wants Toronto to be a major centre of innovation for these technologies, and he plans to speak with Mayor David Miller, Premier Dalton McGuinty and the leaders of major financial institutions over the coming weeks to promote the cleantech cluster idea. He's also bringing his Cleantech Venture Forum conference to Toronto on Oct. 24 to 26.
"We expect by the Toronto forum in the fall that we'll be able to announce a public-private partnership around creating one of these corridors or clusters," says Parker.
"The objective is for Toronto, or southern Ontario, to be one of the top five jurisdictions in the world for cleantech, defined in terms of job creation. At the very least, we want to see 100,000 jobs created over the next 10 years."
Toronto asleep at cleantech switch
Feb 26, 2007 04:30 AM
Tyler Hamilton
Last week, Toronto city council's parks and environment committee gave environmentalists a chance to share some ideas on how to turn our beloved city into the greenest municipality on Earth.
One suggestion out of the dozens of recommendations was to establish a clean technology, or "cleantech," cluster that would draw investment and jobs to the city and surrounding areas.
It's an excellent idea, and one that should have been pursued years ago. The truth is, as Toronto ponders ways to green up its image, other cities in Canada, namely Vancouver, and many throughout the United States have done a much better job at establishing economic clusters around the clean-technology opportunity.
This isn't to say Toronto hasn't embraced technologies that improve energy efficiency, generate emission-free power, clean up water, and reduce pollution – one need only look at Exhibition Place to see examples of such leadership. But so far the city has neglected the opportunity of fostering such innovation in its own backyard, at least in any kind of organized fashion.
"We're asleep as the switch. We're about three years behind," says Toronto native Nicholas Parker, co-founder and chairman of the Cleantech Venture Network, a group based out of Ann Arbor, Mich., that brings together innovative new companies developing clean technologies and early-stage investors who see tremendous growth ahead.
"In our view, over the next five-year period, at least 1.4 million high-quality direct jobs will result from venture investment that's going into this space, globally. Who's going to get those jobs? Shanghai? Stockholm? Silicon Valley? Or Toronto? The race is on to create those jurisdictions that are going to capture these jobs."
The competition is heating up south of the border. According to recent research from San Francisco-based SustainLane, the five top U.S. cleantech clusters are Austin, Texas; San Jose, Berkeley and Pasadena, Calif.; and Boston, Mass.
Austin, for example, formed a clean-energy incubator in 2001 managed out of the University Texas. About seven companies work on a range of technologies, such as Internet-controlled irrigation systems and new geothermal products. They also do their development in close association with local utility Austin Energy, which has opened up the grid as a test bed for new products.
San Jose, the heart of Silicon Valley, has managed to revive itself after the dot-com bust by turning its attention to everything from next-generation solar technologies to energy-management software. "The Valley's long-time leadership in engineering know-how, combined with semi-conductor, nanotechnology and optics R&D gives it a leg up in renewable energy development," according to SustainLane.
Much of San Jose's success – and this would apply to Berkeley and Pasadena as well – is the fact that California aggressively promotes renewable energy development and deployment through a combination of supportive policy and tempting incentives. It's why SunPower, Nanosolar, OptiSolar, NuEdison and many other solar technology ventures have set up shop in the Valley.
San Jose has also established an "Environmental Business Cluster," which has partnerships with regional utility Pacific Gas & Electric and San Jose State University. The mission is to promote the development of alternative fuels, vehicles, and materials that are more efficient and greener by design.
Berkeley, meanwhile, is trying to become a global centre for biofuel innovation. Earlier this month energy giant BP announced it would invest $500 million (U.S.) in research into clean energy in partnership with the University of California, Berkeley, which would be home to a new research organization called the Energy Biosciences Institute. Its mission is to "perform ground-breaking research aimed at the production of new and cleaner energy, initially focusing on renewable biofuels for road transport."
In Pasadena, the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and NASA's Jet Propulsion Labs have provided fertile ground for cleantech ventures to take root. The same goes for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which has been a supportive environment for emerging companies in the Boston area that are focused on renewable energy and energy efficiency.
Common to all these locations is a support structure that connects academia with industry, the financial sector and government. Toronto has all the pieces to this puzzle, but hasn't taken the time to pull them all together.
Toronto is the financial centre of the country and is surrounded by an unrivalled network of colleges and universities, each one playing to its own strengths – whether nanotechnology and advanced materials at the University of Toronto or agri-science at the University of Guelph or energy-systems engineering at St. Lawrence College, to name just a few.
The city owns an innovative utility in Toronto Hydro, and is headquarters to Ontario Power Generation and Hydro One. We've got Exhibition Place, which has proven a willing test bed for new green technologies and a perfect forum for showcasing them. We're also surrounded by major automakers such as General Motors, Ford and Toyota, all of which are putting tremendous resources into designing more efficient cars that use alternative energy sources. Why should innovation go to Detroit, Tokyo and Beijing?
Finally, we've got a province that is leading North America in smart meter deployment, incentives for renewable power generation, and its commitment (despite delays) of shutting down all coal plants. Ontario's energy system also needs an overhaul, a perfect time to adopt cleaner technologies.
There's no reason why Toronto can't be a cleantech cluster – a home for clean technology innovation and a magnet for investment. "I think Toronto has this ability," says Parker. "We can be a player in this."
And the city doesn't have to stand on its own. As Parker suggests, Toronto could be part of a cleantech corridor in southern Ontario that is dotted with smaller, specialized clusters — say, in Waterloo, Guelph, Mississauga, Toronto and Ottawa.
Parker is perhaps better positioned than anyone else to appreciate the opportunity. He practically coined the term "cleantech" and for the past few years has held venture capital conferences around the theme. His most recent conference, last week in San Francisco, was his biggest and most successful yet, and there's no sign that interest in the sector is slowing down.
Why would it? Global warming tops the headlines. Top economists are urging governments to embrace carbon regulations and trading systems. Peak oil concerns haunt us, and energy security is a growing concern. Whether we're trying to adapt to climate change or lower the emissions causing it, new technologies will be needed to address issues such as water scarcity, pollution, CO{-2} emissions and energy self-sufficiency.
Parker wants Toronto to be a major centre of innovation for these technologies, and he plans to speak with Mayor David Miller, Premier Dalton McGuinty and the leaders of major financial institutions over the coming weeks to promote the cleantech cluster idea. He's also bringing his Cleantech Venture Forum conference to Toronto on Oct. 24 to 26.
"We expect by the Toronto forum in the fall that we'll be able to announce a public-private partnership around creating one of these corridors or clusters," says Parker.
"The objective is for Toronto, or southern Ontario, to be one of the top five jurisdictions in the world for cleantech, defined in terms of job creation. At the very least, we want to see 100,000 jobs created over the next 10 years."