by Sunil Paul
Most people think new technologies like solar and biofuels are the answer to crises in climate, energy, and food.What if the most leveraged way to solve these problems was infotech? This is the provocative idea of the "Cleanweb," which is the application of information technology to resource constraints. I have been involved in cleantech as an investor since 2002 (Nanosolar, Solazyme, Zeachem) and was an internet pioneer starting in 1994 (America Online, Brightmail, Linkedin, Zynga).I will explain how companies like AirBnB, Zipcar, Mosaic and others are already improving efficiency and reducing the need for fossil fuels, water, food, land, and other resources. I'll explore the scale required to impact climate and oil security and why traditional cleantech hasn't solve these problems yet. I will also identify new opportunities to create major new cleanweb companies and opportunities for corporations to leverage cleanweb for their products and services.