Venture capitalists are people, just like you and me. They put their pants on one leg at a time, and they're prone to making investing mistakes just like the rest of us. That said, it's hard to deny that some VCs are clearly better than others. And one of Silicon Valley's more successful and higher-profile VCs is John Doerr. Among his big wins are early investments in Symantec, Amazon.com, and more recently, Google.

This success, I believe, gives his words some weight. So when he says, as he did in November, that global warming is real and that "cleantech" is "the biggest economic opportunity of this century," my ears -- and yours -- should perk up.

~Jack Uldrich. From: The Biggest Economic Opportunity of This Century

The fundamental driver for solar PV & solar thermal is the efficiency & cost of conversion of sunlight to electricity or to heat. The competition is either fossil fuels or nuclear energy. Nuclear is high risk due to terrorism, waste products, "not in my backyard". Fossil fuels depend on the "carbon subsidy" - current prices do not including payment for global warming & the destruction of the biosphere. Solar growth at 20% per year for 50 years can replace fossil fuels & nuclear and remove the causes of global warming.

~Bo Varga. From: Nano Solar News: Global Warming & 2015 Cost Trends

Nanotechnology is not an industry on its own, but rather a series of advanced technologies that can greatly improve products, services and processes in existing industries. To make the transformation, you have to make sure that your business plan is going after real markets, and you have the right resources and partnerships to make it happen.

~Neil Gordon. From: The Nanotech Sector Needs Sturdy Business Models

Disruptive technologies are positively impacting the world in which we live, creating new wealth and reshaping economic and social policy.

Having clear messages and public relations programs in place that enable technologists, scientists and other experts to distinctly articulate their vision can not only help them become industry leaders and advance their technologies, but provides organizations with a voice in the marketplace of ideas, facts, and viewpoints to aid informed public debate.

~Patti Hill & Duana Welch. From: The Role of PR for Technology

...the notion that companies banding together to press for comprehensive green policy from the federal government will soon be at one another’s throats or that the tyranny of quarterly earnings will crush their efforts is speculation on Garten’s part. Garten himself points out that General Electric plans to expand research on green technology from $700 million in 2005 to $1.5 billion by 2010, and that a group of pension funds with at least $200 billion in assets has just put Exxon, Wells Fargo and several others on a blacklist for substandard environmental efforts.

~George Elvin. From: Balancing green goals and short-term gains