GE, Carbon Trust to Partner on Clean Tech Start-Up Support

(National Renewable Energy Laboratory)

General Electric and the U.K. environmental organization Carbon Trust will collaborate on backing start-up companies in Europe focusing on clean technologies. The partnership comes as the share of European investment in clean energy has declined over the past five years.

During the first 18 months of the partnership, the Carbon Trust and GE will identify and evaluate early stage companies with high potential growth in low-carbon and infrastructure applications. GE will establish a $5 million fund for investments in these enterprises, with the Carbon Fund providing technical and business advice.

The partnership is part of GE’s Ecomagination Challenge, a $200 million initiative with venture capital (VC) partners to find and fund innovative ideas in clean tech technology. Since 2010 date, GE says the company and its VC partners have committed $134 million for investment and commercial partnerships with start-up companies worldwide.

“Clean tech has the capacity to be a strong growth driver for Europe given its strong research capability and track record in this area,” says Carbon Trust CEO Tom Delay. “However,” Delay adds, “there is increasing evidence that other parts of the world are catching up and overtaking the region.”

According to a Bloomberg New Energy Finance report released late last year, Europe has seen its global clean energy lead decline relative to the rest of the world over the past five years. The report indicates that in 2007, 42 percent of the world’s clean energy investment took place in Europe compared to 25 percent today. During the fourth quarter of 2011, according to the industry analysts Cleantech Group, North America accounted for almost two-thirds of total venture capital investments in the clean technology sector, with Europe and Asia Pacific accounting for just 19 percent and 18 percent respectively.

Read more: GE Leads $200 Million Smart Grid Challenge

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