The cleantech market in the US is dominated by cities on the west coast, according to a new report.
The first annual US Metro Clean Tech Index, by research and consulting firm Clean Energy, ranks the country’s 50 largest metropolitan regions based on nearly two dozen ‘clean tech’ metrics such as hybrid electric vehicles, certified green buildings, clean-tech venture capital investments, innovation and workforce.
Six of the top seven metro regions in clean tech are on the west coast. The top 10 are:
- San Jose, California
- San Francisco, California
- Portland, Oregon
- Sacramento, California
- Seattle, Washington
- Denver, Colorado
- Los Angeles, California
- Washington, DC
- Boston, Massachusetts
- Austin, Texas
"West Coast metro regions, which have been at the forefront of regional clean-tech efforts and have strong state support, dominate the inaugural US Metro Clean Tech Index," said Clean Edge managing director Ron Pernick. "But other regions show significant strengths and assets, from Chicago and Washington DC to Austin and Salt Lake City, representing the diversity of clean-tech leadership and activities across the nation."
Other highlights from this year’s research include:
- Portland, Oregon has more LEED-certified green-building projects per capita than any other metro region, but Las Vegas earns the green-building crown for total LEED square footage per capita.
- The top metro regions with the largest share of electric vehicles on the road are all in California – San Francisco/San Jose, Los Angeles/Riverside, Sacramento and San Diego.
- Raleigh, North Carolina has the lowest carbon emissions (metric tons per capita) from large facilities.
- Boston, San Jose and Salt Lake City lead the nation with the most licensable clean technologies coming out of their university labs, per capita.
- Just four metro regions have the presence of a Department of Energy lab, a Clean Energy Alliance Incubator and a top-ranked green MBA program: Chicago, Denver, New York and San Jose.
An executive summary of this year’s Metro Indexis available for download. Listen to the 2degrees webinar 'Is there a marketplace for smart cities?'