Clean Tech Law contemplates a diverse set of legal and policy issues related to the development and commercialization of

clean technology Clean technology, also called cleantech or climate tech, is any process, product, or service that reduces negative environmental impacts through significant Efficient energy use, energy efficiency improvements, the sustainable use of resources, o ...

. These issues range from conventional

natural resources Natural resources are resources that are drawn from nature and used with few modifications. This includes the sources of valued characteristics such as commercial and industrial use, aesthetic value, scientific interest, and cultural value. ...

law to cutting-edge

intellectual property Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, co ...

issues related to synthetic genomics and advanced materials. Clean tech law could also address issues and conflicts surrounding the placement of such technologies (e.g., glare from solar panels).

History

The term clean tech, or cleantech, is short for

. The abbreviated use of the term first appeared on October 10, 1990 in the Xinhua General News Service. Now, clean tech, is generally considered to include multiple advanced technologies in four economic sectors:

energy Energy () is the physical quantity, quantitative physical property, property that is transferred to a physical body, body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of Work (thermodynamics), work and in the form of heat and l ...

water Water is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It is a transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance. It is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known liv ...

material A material is a matter, substance or mixture of substances that constitutes an Physical object, object. Materials can be pure or impure, living or non-living matter. Materials can be classified on the basis of their physical property, physical ...

s, and

transportation Transport (in British English) or transportation (in American English) is the intentional Motion, movement of humans, animals, and cargo, goods from one location to another. Mode of transport, Modes of transport include aviation, air, land tr ...

. These technologies break down in the following categories: * Energy Generation * Energy Storage * Energy Infrastructure * Energy Efficiency * Transportation * Water & Wastewater * Air & Environment * Materials * Manufacturing/Industrial * Agriculture * Recycling & Waste

Basic issues

As a discrete legal field, clean tech law is in its infancy and so vaguely defined that it focuses as much on more familiar areas like liability and ownership as it does

business models A business model describes how a Company, business organization creates, delivers, and captures value creation, value,''Business Model Generation'', Alexander Osterwalder, Yves Pigneur, Alan Smith, and 470 practitioners from 45 countries, self-pub ...

and corporate strategies. The transactional side of clean tech law revolved around development and commercializing of new technologies in

renewable energy Renewable energy (also called green energy) is energy made from renewable resource, renewable natural resources that are replenished on a human lifetime, human timescale. The most widely used renewable energy types are solar energy, wind pow ...

pollution Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause harm. Pollution can take the form of any substance (solid, liquid, or gas) or energy (such as radioactivity, heat, sound, or light). Pollutants, the component ...

, and other frontiers in the fight against

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

and protection of natural resources, and the creation of green jobs. In addition, the basic economics are inseparable from substantive social and ethical issues posed by these emerging technologies. The more traditional legal areas of

law include

patent law A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A ...

, licensing,

litigation A lawsuit is a proceeding by one or more parties (the plaintiff or claimant) against one or more parties (the defendant) in a civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. ...

, and federal and state

legislative A legislature (, ) is a deliberative assembly with the legal authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country, nation or city on behalf of the people therein. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers ...

landuse Land use is an umbrella term to describe what happens on a parcel of land. It concerns the benefits derived from using the land, and also the land management actions that humans carry out there. The following categories are used for land use: fore ...

and regulatory issues.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Cleantechlaw.orgCleanTech Docs
Environmental law Intellectual property law Energy law

History

Basic issues

See also

References

External links