The Pembina Institute think tank has issued a report on the
opportunities and challenges facing Canada in the global transition
to clean energy — a market set to grow to $3 trillion by
2020. Competing in Clean Energy: Capitalizing on
Canadian innovation in a $3 trillion
economy concludes that federal policy and access to
capital are the major barriers to the success of Canada's clean
energy industry, which now has only 1% of the world market.
According to Pembina: "With more than 700 companies,
Canada's cleantech sector grew job numbers by 11 per cent and
invested almost $2 billion in research and development between 2008
and 2010.
Yet venture capital investment, especially from large
institutional investors, is declining: from about $3.3 billion in
2000 to less than $1 billion in 2012. And Canadian companies have
landed only two per cent of clean energy patents granted in the
U.S. since 2002, compared to Korea's five per cent,
Germany's seven per cent, and
