My exams are getting right in the way of writing something worthwhile...
Do it second and do it better. I heard that line on Dragon's Den once. It was some east-London geezer who seemed a bit like a less-fortunate Alan Sugar with a website who said his dad had told him that whatever he does, he should do it second and do it better. It sort of makes sense, I suppose. You might think that being first is more commercially viable - look at Sky after all. But Sky as we know it now was second, and their first attempt (technically their second attempt) failed massively with astronomical losses. Going green has already been done, so why isn't there anyone doing it second and doing it better?
There's a real case to be made for so-called green investment. I'm not a really motivated by environmental arguments, although I should be. I'm motivated less by pollution and more by how it just makes sense to heavily invest in green technology. Look at the set of things we know about the future; we will run out of fossil fuel, we will not stop using cars and electronics and from these two we can deduce that we will need something to replace fossil fuels. Business opportunities like this never come along.
Markets are propelled up and down by pure speculation, why isn't such a guaranteed opportunity being embraced by the country as a whole? When we started to need oil, and when it was found in abundance in the middle east, do you think the locals hesitated before throwing up their rigs? We have an abundance of tidal, wave and wind power. I hear your objections, "what about the environmental impact, foo'!" (I don't include "they look horrible" as an objection. Would you rather wind turbines or open-cast mines and nuclear power plants?)
Two things seem to broadly inspire innovation. War, because we all want to survive, and material rewards, like money. Since no rational person wants a war (nor would it promote green tech), and the other broadly applicable one is money, it seems like the potential rewards are enough to get someone innovating wind turbines that don't kill bats.
Barring some alien gift of free, clean, unlimited energy technology the only thing we can be sure of is that we will need green technology. Spotting a need in the market is something that is very commercially rewarding. Its development and manufacture are something we should be very much embracing.
