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Cleantech Benchmark Study / Cleantech Symposium Series
October 23, 2008
Mayor Richard T. Crotty has announced a double-barreled Orange County initiative to target
cleantech economic development—attracting, creating, and growing the companies that produce
the products and provide the services that will help the world to go green. “With cleantech, going
green makes good business sense,” said Mayor Crotty. “Increasingly, cleantech is becoming
recognized as a cutting edge industry, the biggest thing since the dot com boom, and the greatest
economic opportunity of the 21st century.”
The first Orange County initiative is a Cleantech Benchmark Study with the working title:
“Metro Orlando Cleantech: Assets, Capabilities, Presence, and Potential.” This study will be a
primer for the further development of cleantech in Metro Orlando—a common body of
knowledge for local economic development practitioners and public officials, and a startup guide
for a local cleantech economic development action plan.
The Cleantech Study will be conducted by the UCF Institute for Economic Competitiveness
(www.iec.ucf.edu). The Institute is uniquely qualified for this work because of its focus on
national, state, and regional trends and forecasting. It regularly asks the question, “What’s next?”
when analyzing the future of the Metro Orlando economy.
Elements of the Cleantech Study, among others, will include: an overview of cleantech
investment and growth trends; a description of cleantech hotspots and clusters—states, regions,
and cities—and an analysis of the factors contributing to their growth; an inventory of Metro
Orlando cleantech companies and the organizations supporting their growth and development;
and an analysis of assets in Metro Orlando that are conducive to the growth of cleantech, such as
available talent pools, research facilities, assistance available to cleantech companies, and
markets for products.
The second Orange County cleantech initiative is a Cleantech Symposium Series that will
convene interested parties to better understand the cleantech community and to collectively foster
its growth.
The Symposium Series will be spearheaded by the UCF Venture Lab (www.venturelab.ucf.edu),
which is uniquely suited to organizing and staging such an effort. Its sole purpose is to nurture
new technology spin-offs from UCF faculty, staff, and students, and also new technology startups
from outside the university that have the potential for hiring UCF graduates. The Venture Lab
already is working with at least six emerging cleantech companies. It is also a member of the
Cleantech Network (www.cleantechnetwork.com), a worldwide membership organization
of
thousands of companies, investors, professional service organizations, and economic
development organizations supporting cleantech. Both the Institute for Economic
Competitiveness and the Venture Lab were established as part of Orange County’s economic
stimulus packages in 2002 and 2003.
The Cleantech Study and the Cleantech Symposium Series are mutually supportive initiatives.
For example, symposiums initially will help to identify local cleantech companies and organizations to be included in the Cleantech Study.
Later on, policies and programs supporting
cleantech in other communities, as identified in the Cleantech Study, will be presented and
discussed in one of the symposiums to help determine what should be done here.
Cleantech cuts across a broad range of industry sectors, from alternative energy generation to
transportation, and from manufacturing to agriculture. It includes solar energy, fuel cells and
advanced batteries, wind power, and Internet controlled irrigation systems, to name just a few
categories. Cleantech is projected to create millions of “clean collar” and “green collar” jobs
throughout the United States, many of these being jobs such as solar panel installers that cannot
easily be exported overseas. According to the American Solar Energy Society, as many as 1 out
of 4 workers in the U.S. will be working in the renewable energy or energy efficiency industries
by 2030. Cleantech has the potential for creating economic opportunities at every level and in
every corner of Orange County and Metro Orlando.
The County’s cleantech initiatives will involve its usual and important economic development
partners such as the Metro Orlando Economic Development Commission, Enterprise Florida,
Florida High Tech Corridor Council, Disney Entrepreneur Center, UCF Technology Incubator,
UCF Small Business Development Center, and Central Florida Research Park. In addition, many
other entities at UCF supporting business development and clean technologies will become a
more integral part of the County’s economic development efforts. These include the Center for
Entrepreneurship & Innovation, Solar Energy Center, Nanoscience Technology Center, Advanced
Materials Processing and Analysis Center, Florida Power Electronics Center, Center for
Advanced Turbines and Energy Research, Stormwater Management Academy, Siemens Energy
Center, Institute for Simulation & Training, College of Optics and Photonics, and College of
Engineering.
Other organizations in Metro Orlando will also be involved, such as AeA (formerly the American
Electronics Association). AeA (www.aeanet.org/greentech) is a nationwide nonprofit trade
association that represents all segments of the technology industry, including cleantech. Its
National Green Technology platform provides local as well an international knowledge exchange
opportunities, strategies for state and local governments, and political policy recommendations
that will further U.S. leadership in global innovation. AeA already has partnered with other
communities such as San Diego on their cleantech initiatives.
For more information about the County’s Cleantech initiatives, and to become involved, contact
Orange County Economic Development Administrator John Lewis: 407-836-4141 or
John.Lewis@ocfl.net.
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About the Cleantech Index
The Cleantech Index is the first and only stock market index intended to
reflect the surging global demand for cleantech products and services. It is comprised of 76 companies that
are global leaders in cleantech innovation and commercial deployment across a broad range of industry
sectors: from alternative energy and energy efficiency to advanced materials, and from air and water
purification to eco-friendly agriculture/nutrition and power generation. In 2007, the Cleantech Index
outperformed (+42.9%) the NASDAQ Composite Index (+10.6%) and the S&P 500 (+5.5%). For more
information, visit www.cleantechindex.com and www.amex.com.
About Metro Orlando Cleantech Companies.
Examples of emerging Metro Orlando cleantech
companies include:
- Solar Inc. Designs, develops and markets concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) modules for use in
generating solar energy. The company objective is to provide the world’s most efficient and lowest
cost per watt solar modules. Visit www.sowlar.com.
- Stormwater Treatment Environments, Inc. Provides unique and aesthetically pleasing green roofs
for commercial real estate developers and business owners. Green roofs can save money, protect the
environment, help compliance with regulatory requirements, and be visually pleasing. Visit www.stormwaterenvironments.com.
- Planar Energy Devices, Inc. Developing and manufacturing next generation lithium batteries that
hold more energy, last longer, weigh less, and fit in tiny places—a better battery. Visit www.planarenergy.com.
- AquaFiber Technologies Corp. AcquaFiber is a biotechnology company that is providing solutions
to pollution problems, generating alternative energy sources, and developing innovative renewable
sources of textiles for clothing. Its technologies are being used to clean up Lake Apopka and Lake
Jessup. Visit www.acquafiber.com.
- Zerocrete. Zerocrete is a UCF discovery that converts fly ash into a substitute for concrete. While
conventional cement production is responsible for 5% of the worldwide emissions of carbon dioxide,
zerCrete releases virtually no carbon dioxide in its production.
Many existing Metro Orlando companies also fall under the banner of cleantech. For example, Mitsubishi
Power Systems Orlando Service Center (OSC). OSC repairs, services and manufactures replacement
parts for power plants in the U.S., Canada, and Latin America. It can also enhance turbine performance
through technology upgrades and modifications that enhance fuel efficiency, output, performance, and
service life. The Metro Orlando Cleantech Benchmark Study will inventory existing as well as emerging
cleantech companies. |
