BioRenewable Technology Arenas

Selected Sustainable (Clean/Green) Technology Industries

A new set of markets are emerging, some well established, others just getting started, and most are growing rapidly. These markets are:

Renewable Energy & Biofuels
1. Solar / Photovoltaic
2. Wind
3. Biomass
4. Biofuels Update
5. Conservation
6. Fuel Cells and others (hybrid technologies, hydro, wave, nanotech and more)
Advanced Renewable Materials (Biobased Materials)
Biopharmaceuticals / Life Sciences
Water Purification, Remediation & Conservation
BioLubricants and Industrial Cleaners
1. BioLubricants
2. Colloidal Cleaners/Degreasers/Santizers
3. BioPesticides
4. Pipe and Tank Cleaning
5. Mold Abatement and other Green Chemistry Innovations

Additional industries (outside of our scope):

Alternative Transportation
Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) -- Link to Social Investment Forum update on SRI performance
Natural, Nutritional & Organic Products -- from Fair Trade to the Natural "healthfoods" (retail) Industry
Personal renewal -- yoga, personal growth and spiritual development products, books, tapes and seminars

The In³ management team selected the first five "biorenewable" technology arenas as they appear to show the greatest potential for rapid growth and disruptive technology breakthroughs, or are otherwise strategically important (e.g., news media) to securing our collective future. As a culture, we tend to adopt and suport what we know and understand, thus the importance of alternative voices in news and information.

Collectively, these markets have been given the name "Sustainable Economy" within the LOHAS* network, estimated at $76.47 billion annually in the US alone.

* LOHAS is an acronym for “Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability” -- see the LOHAS website for details -- referring to those people who consider these markets valuable and important for one reason or another.

Evolution of Sustainable & Clean Technology Markets

In his book, In Earth’s Company, author Carl Frankel describes the 1970’s as the “era of compliance,” where not breaking the law was the mark of good corporate citizenship. In the 80’s, with several environmental disasters squarely in the public eye, the era of going “beyond compliance” began, one marked by public accountability, pollution prevention, fast learning and resilience. The 1990’s brought an era of “eco-efficiency” where companies moved beyond pollution prevention (reducing harmful outputs) to looking at “industrial metabolism” and the field of Industrial Ecology was born.

Frankel notes: “Eco-efficiency strategies run the gamut from energy-efficiency retrofits to the use of recovered and recoverable materials, to what has become known as ‘dematerialization’ (e.g., using less materials by making packaging thinner and lighter).

The fourth era, which is dawning now, must extend even beyond eco-efficiency and continuous improvements to a new guiding vision, one that, as Frankel suggests, has four keystones:

Progress toward zero waste: rather than thinking how to reduce waste, companies will come asclose as possible to eliminating it altogether.
Whole systems thinking: addressing problems at the level of the entire system, rather than the parts, using a design approach that allows strategists to conceive something completely new rather than simply to extrapolate the future from the present.
Looking beyond internal operational sustainability and making the world’s problems the company’s problems.
Moving beyond the focus on environmental issues to a focus on sustainable developments

Companies that grow from these keystones are likely to succeed in this fourth era marketplace.

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Renewable Energy	Renewable Materials	BioPharma / Life Sciences	Water	BioLubricants

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