Jolly Green Giants

Sustainable business has been treated like a nonprofit, treehugger pursuit. Now that it might be worth something, entrepreneurs and investors are swarming to clean tech.

Sustainability has shifted from referring to the environment to the resources we use every day. "Clean tech" implies an economic future. Using technology to minimize the effects of industry is a decidedly consumerist solution to a conservationist problem.

But with China, India, and other expanding economies around the globe, clean tech such as wind and solar power look to be the new industrial giants.