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

clean technology Clean technology, in short cleantech, is any process, product, or service that reduces negative environmental impacts through significant energy efficiency improvements, the sustainable use of resources, or environmental protection activities. Cle ...

. 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. O ...

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, cop ...

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 In physics, energy (from Ancient Greek: ἐνέργεια, ''enérgeia'', “activity”) is the quantitative property that is transferred to a body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of work and in the form of heat a ...

water Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as a ...

material Material is a substance or mixture of substances that constitutes an object. Materials can be pure or impure, living or non-living matter. Materials can be classified on the basis of their physical and chemical properties, or on their geologi ...

s, and

transportation Transport (in British English), or transportation (in American English), is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land (rail and road), water, cable, pipeline, ...

. 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 an organization creates, delivers, and captures value,''Business Model Generation'', Alexander Osterwalder, Yves Pigneur, Alan Smith, and 470 practitioners from 45 countries, self-published, 2010 in economic, social, ...

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

renewable energy Renewable energy is energy that is collected from renewable resources that are naturally replenished on a human timescale. It includes sources such as sunlight, wind, the movement of water, and geothermal heat. Although most renewable energy ...

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

, and other frontiers in the fight against

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...

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 p ...

, licensing,

litigation - A lawsuit is a proceeding by a party or parties against another in the civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. The term "lawsuit" is used in reference to a civil actio ...

, and federal and state

legislative A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of government. Laws enacted by legislatures are usually known as p ...

landuse Land use involves the management and modification of natural environment or wilderness into built environment such as Human settlement, settlements and semi-natural habitats such as Arable land, arable fields, pastures, and managed Woodland, woo ...

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