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A Bright Future for Energy Ventures
By Martha Mendoza
Wharton alumni are lowering carbon
emissions, reducing consumption of
fossil fuels—and pursuing profits.
Any problem can be approached from multiple directions. When that problem is
as complex as world dependence on a diminishing supply of fossil fuels and re
sulting environmental changes, multiple approaches are not only possible—they
are necessary.
Some of Whartons alumni are stepping up with solutions to this pressing is
sue. They're developing alternative resources, funding new technologies, and
promoting conservation with the aim of reducing dependence on electricity
and petroleum.
Clean, high tech industries are emerging as one of this centurys strongest eco
nomic drivers. More than $7.3 billion of venture capital was invested in North
American "clean tech" companies between 1999 and 2005, including more
than 1,085 investment rounds in 628 U.S. and Canadian companies, accord
ing to Cleantech Venture Network LLC, which tracks investment dollars in com
mercially viable alternative fuels and energy. And across the Atlantic, Londons
Alternative Investment Market (AIM) has become a prime listing candidate for
clean technology because it offers looser regulation than the U.S. market, espe
cially in the wake of Sarbanes-Oxley.
Tucker Twitmyer, C 90, WG 96, managing partner with Philadelphia
based EnerTech, says his firm is already reaping benefits from its investments
in clean energy.
When you have a trillion-dollar-a-year market in the U.S. that seems to
grow at an inexorable 2 percent to 3 percent a year, it just begs for innovation,"
Twitmyer told Wired Magazine. Twitmyer was among a group of venture cap
italists who participated in a panel discussion about clean technology at the
Wharton Private Equity Conference held in January 2006.
And the approaches used by alumni are diverse, rang
ing from the first high performance electric-powered sports
car to fuel cell development. Individually, they are venture
capitalists, managers, technologists, and entrepreneurs, all
moving forward on their unique ventures; taken together
they are dynamic pieces of a complicated solution.
- A Challenge in the Classroom
- The Greening of Detroit
- High Performance, Cleaner Technology
- A Solar Future
- Greener Buildings, Greener Earth
- Short and Long Term Solutions
- Capital Markets Are Open for Business
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