Cleantech: The Engineering Career of the 21st Century?

I know I keep writing about environmental topics related to engineering here, but all evidence continues to point not just to the need for eco-positive engineers, but the growing job market for them.

Most of this growth is in what's called "cleantech" -- what Merrill Lynch this week called "the Sixth Technology Revolution." Cleantech embodies a lot of things, but the term is mostly used to describe wind, solar, energy efficiency, and other sustainable technologies.

How big is the market? The U.S. cleantech market has grown 55% in the last 12 months to $2.4 billion. The EU plans to invest €6 billion in cleantech to boost their auto and construction sectors. Los Angeles is betting its economic future on cleantech. And venture capitalists like VantagePoint Venture Partners are investing like crazy around the world.

Now, the cleantech market isn't without risk. Most cleantech companies are start-ups, and start-ups are dependent upon easy access to credit and cash. Now that we're in a recession, on top of the existing credit crunch, some of that cash is going to dry up, and we're going to see a number of cleantech companies go bust as a result. According to an industry network called The Cleantech Group, "This is going to take out some of the peripheral players in cleantech. There will be a flight to quality. We're going to see a better market emerge for cleantech that is more sustainable, more enduring."(Okay, they're obviously biased, but their opinion is backed up by other analysts.)

So...cleantech. There's going to be some ups and downs in the next few years, but if you can ride it out, this field will offer opportunities for decades to come.