What are some Technologies used in climate change?

To what extent does helping cleantech companies with growth strategy help mitigate climate change?

• I'm interested in devoting my career to mitigating climate change. I have the potential opportunity to work in the cleantech strategy group for my company (e.g. helping companies in the solar energy space figure out how to grow most profitably), but I'm wondering the extent to which the projects I work on will actually make an impact on the issue I care about. It seems to me that I'd be helping cleantech companies grow, but what would actually mitigate climate change is finding ways to drive R&D that reduces the cost or increases the impact of clean technologies.

• Answer:

  Caveat:  My opinion. You would be making a very worthwhile contribution by spending your career helping solar energy generation companies to reduce costs until their energy production can compete unsubsidized with coal-fired electricity. You would be worthy of a name in history if you arranged for the commercialization of the Optical Rectenna, which is a completely novel method of converting sunlight into electricity. Essentially, light is received on an impedance-matched antenna, then rectified to dc current, just like in a radio or cellphone.   >90% efficiency, proven to work at lower infra-red frequencies, should use very little if any costly materials, requires precision manufacturing at the nano scale to get antennas and diodes small enough.  http://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=6&ved=0CFQQFjAF&url=http%3A%2F%2Fecee.colorado.edu%2F%7Emoddel%2FQEL%2FPapers%2FZhu13c.pdf&ei=_51nU9Yz0YbIBNKPguAM&usg=AFQjCNERIB4pxnT564_iJ9SJ0tabIIdQtg&bvm=bv.65788261%2Cd.aWw http://spie.org/x85345.xml