Top Ten Highlights of Cleantech Zurich, Switzerland
Zurich, one of the most important cities of Switzerland, hasalso helped to make Switzerland one of the leaders on cleantech
investment and
target=”_blank”>energy efficiency around the globe.
Due to the waste management programs, sustainable transportation
projects,
target=”_blank”>renewable energy advances, and green buildings,
Switzerland placed number two on the 2010 Environmental Performance
Index.
1) Switzerland has set itself apart as a global
hub of cleantech finance and Zurich is the capital of that hub.
Zurich financial companies play key leadership roles in multiple
sustainable/cleantech financial sectors.
Whether investing in public companies or private venture Zurich
have a wide range of investment firms that are international
leaders in cleantech including
target=”_blank”>Sustainable Asset Management,
Cleantech,
target=”_blank”>Emerald Ventures, target=”_blank”>UBS,
Suisse, ZKB,
Susi
Partners and
target=”_blank”>Vontobel.
2) Swiss Re. target=”_blank”>Swiss Re in Zurich is committed to sustainable
energy consumption. They have currently been engaged in climate
change studies and sponsoring various research projects. Because
the climate plays a role in the reinsurance business, Swiss Re has
come up with risk management solutions for climate related
risks.
Due to this study, Swiss Re has taken measures to decrease its
company’s own carbon footprint. Swiss Re became the first company
for financial services to commit to greenhouse gas neutrality.
Their goal was to reduce carbon emissions by 30% for every
employee. Swiss Re created the COYou2 program to provide their
employees with subsidies to change their CO2 consumption patterns.
They are also committed to using renewable energy sources.
3) Zurich based Gaia Global SA provides
innovative sustainability solutions addressing both private and
public organizations. It has strong expertise in the areas of
climate change, sustainable energy, risk management, environment
and innovation.
Gaia identifies and integrates clean technology solutions into
business models. Gaia has been successful to build bridges to
emerging and developing country markets for adapted technology and
service development for Swiss companies.
A strength is Gaia’s active role in public-private partnerships
among other with multilateral banks in Latcam and Africa. Gaia
Global is part of Gaia Group target=”_blank”>http://www.gaia.fi/ which operates globally
through its offices in Finland, Switzerland and China.
4) Zurich is home to Swiss Cleantech.
Cleantech is a Cleantech Business Association. It was founded
in autumn 2009 by the Foundation for Global Sustainability (FFGS,
target=”_blank”>http://www.ffgs.org/). A number of companies
which think and act in a sustainable manner contacted FFGS and
voiced their need for effective political support.
As a result, swisscleantech now represents its members’
political interests. The term Cleantech encompasses all industries.
It fosters Eco-Innovation and addresses all companies which apply
the principles of sustainable development (products, services,
processes). Swiss Cleantech is also one of the founders of the
target=”_blank”>GCCA Global Cleantech Cluster Association.
5) Swiss Village Abu Dhabi. Set up through
collaboration between Abu Dhabi and the Swiss Embassy, the Swiss
Sustainability Initiative was set up in Abu Dhabi’s Masdar City,
the global ecocity project. target=”_blank”>Swiss Village is set up with a number of
research laboratories, offices, manufacturing facilities, business
hub, and a number of other necessities.
Swiss Village participates in the overall Masdar Initiative to
create sustainable energy sources. Swiss Village uses a number of
technologies at its disposal to assist in achieving the research
and development of renewable energy technologies that can be
created and exported throughout the world.
6) Swiss Federal Institute of Technology
Zurich. To increase cleantech awareness for the future,
the Institute of
Energy Technology focuses on sustainable energy systems that
are reliable, secure, socially compatible, economically viable, and
environmentally friendly.
There are numerous energy policy and activities that resume at
ETH Zurich. They investigate the numerous dimensions of the energy
challenge, such as transportation, electricity, heating, energy
storage, world economic demands, and security of supply, global
warming and come up with a coherent strategy development plan.
(You could also include target=”_blank”>Eawag and target=”_blank”>Empa, which are connected to the ETH; the
research area in Zurich is very strong!) I also guess that you
should mention the eawag and empa, eventually also the Climate KIC
program.
7) The Swiss Energy Program. In 2001, the Swiss
Energy Program was launched to create a “platform for an
intelligent energy policy.” The program is aimed at supporting
energy efficiency as well as the use of renewable energy.
The Swiss Energy program realizes that this means there needs to
be cooperation between the federal government, municipalities,
trade and industry partners, consumer and environmental
organizations, as well as private and public agencies.
Through its work, it has been able to reduce overall CO2
emissions by 2.8 million tonnes, and lower fossil fuel consumption
by 7.9%.
Swiss Energy Program has also assisted in lowering total energy
consumption by 4.7% and increased the amount of renewable energy
that is used throughout the country. (
target=”_blank”>2000 WATT-Gesellschaft)
8 ) CO2 Act. Created by the Swiss Federal
Office for the Environment, the CO2 Act came into effect in 2000
and forms one of the foundations for the climate policy of
Switzerland. The overall mission of the
CO2 Act is to reduce the total amount of CO2 emissions that are
the result of fossil fuel usage by 10% of what the 1990 level was.
This would reduce the percentage of heating fuels to 15 and motor
fuels to eight.
This act is done mainly through measures taken voluntarily by
private individuals and companies. However, legislation has been
enacted by the federal government to introduce a CO2 fee is
voluntary measures do not succeed in lowering CO2 emissions. The
only companies that would be exempt are those that are taking a
large venture to reduce their CO2 emissions and meet a decided
target.
9) Hydropower Legislation. Due in large part to
its large amount of annual rainfall and topography, Switzerland has
proven ideal conditions for hydropower. There are currently 543
hydropower stations and currently makes up a large part of the
market. The Federal government in Zurich has taken many measures to
promote the use of hydropower in the future.
The
target=”_blank”>Federal Hydropower Act provides all the
provisions that govern hydropower utilization. Through legislation,
the government is hoping to increase the usage of hydropower to
become one of the main forms of sustainable, renewable energy that
can be utilized throughout the country. More than 50% of the
electricity production is made with hydropower.
10) ABB. ABB
is one of the leading global powers that provide technologies in
power and automation that allows industry and utility customers the
ability to maximize their overall performance while decreasing the
total impact to the environment. They produce products and
solutions for electrical power, power system, discrete automation
and motion, low voltage, and process automation. ABB assists in
creating technologies that will make companies more competitive
while keeping the environment safe. They balance social, economic,
and environmental objectives and integrate these objectives indo
the daily decisions of businesses.
Shawn Lesser is Co-founder & Managing Partner of
Atlanta-based
target=”_blank”>Watershed Capital Group - an investment bank
assisting sustainable fund and companies raise capital, perform
acquisitions, and in other strategic financial decisions. He is
also a Co-founder of the target=”_blank”>GCCA Global Cleantech Cluster Association “The
Global Voice of Cleantech”. He writes for various cleantech
publications and is known as the David Letterman of Cleantech for
his “Top 10″ series. He can be reached at
shawn@watershedcapital.com
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