Scandinavian cleantech a head and shoulders taller

Nordic countries have emerged as leaders in cleantech innovation and political direction, according to a panel of experts at the Cleantech Forum XXI in San Francisco today.

Nordic countries are fertile for advancement with their flexible labor market, liberalized financial market and high income taxes, panelists said.

“The Nordic region holds four strongholds in cleantech; eco-friendly building materials, waste management, industrial biotech and biofuels,” said Christian Motzfeldt, CEO of technology startup investor Vaekstfonden.

An example of a company within the four strongholds is Novozymes, the world’s largest manufacturer of enzymes that act as processing catalysts in second generation ethanol production, according to
Motzfeldt. 

The Denmark government sought independence from imported energy during the oil crises and decided to switch from oil to coal power plants, integrate a natural gas grid, and implement heavy energy taxes and strong subsidies for industries and the individual consumer, according to Finn Mortensen, executive director of Climate Consortium Denmark.

“Danish total 2008 cleantech exports were close to $94 billion, with one of the highest growth rates in the world,” Mortensen said. “The Denmark government laid out a vision to produce a green growth society totally independent of all fossil fuels by 2050.”

Denmark wants to swap its 85 percent dependence on fossil fuels and 15 percent on renewable energies, said Charles Nielsen, R&D director of DONG Energy.

Nielsen says that Nordic markets must accomplish this by being on the demand side of the market, developing new solutions.

Sylvia Burks, a Silicon Valley-based partner at law firm Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, said Scandinavian countries have adopted policies without dragging their constituents into them, but rather with support from them.

Burks said that the countries’ agencies also promote technology innovation by investing time and money for successful export.

“Scandinavia has developed technologies appropriate for their own culture and society, but also that are ripe for global markets,” she said.