LOS ANGELES-- New statistics to be released today in the 2009 "California Green Innovation Index" document the powerful economic stimulus provided by energy efficiency and green technology in California, despite the worldwide financial crisis.
The Index finds that total Gross Domestic Product (GDP) produced per unit of energy (energy productivity) is 68 percent higher in California than the rest of the nation, which generates billions for the economy. Since 2005 statewide green jobs have grown at a rate ten times faster than total job growth. Green tech venture capital investment nearly doubled in one year, hitting an all-time high of $3.3 billion in 2008, capturing 57 percent of the national total. Los Angeles, San Francisco and Sacramento together accounted for over 20 percent of the nation's hybrid vehicle registrations in 2007.
The 2009 California Green Innovation Index, an initiative from Next 10 and authored by Collaborative Economics, will be unveiled at the VerdeXchange Conference in Los Angeles -- a leading technology, energy, and regulatory "green marketmakers" event. Designed to track key economic, energy and environmental indicators, the Index provides critical data on the impact of innovation on the state's economic and environmental health as California moves to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to 1990 levels as mandated by the California Global Warming Solutions Act (AB 32).
Chief among Index findings:
-- From 2002-07, California led all states in patent registrations for green technologies, increasing the state's total number by 70 percent over a similar period in the early nineties. (page 31)
-- Despite slowing in overall venture capital investment, clean technology investment in California hit an all-time high in 2008 of $3.3 billion, increasing nearly $1.5 billion over 2007 and over seven times total clean tech investment in 2005. (page 28)
-- Since 2005, green job growth has grown by 10 percent, while statewide jobs have increased by only 1 percent. By green segment, job growth has been strongest in Advanced Materials (28 percent) followed by Transportation (23 percent), Air & Environment (22 percent), and Green Building (20 percent), with 20 percent of those jobs generated in manufacturing. (pages 70 and 71)
-- Over 1.5 million jobs have been created as a result of energy efficiency policies forged by California over the last 35 years, generating $45 billion in payroll. (page 66)
-- California's energy productivity is 68 percent higher than that of the rest of the country. Measured as the ratio of energy consumed (inputs) to GDP (economic output), growth in energy productivity equates to more dollars of GDP generated per unit of energy consumed. (page 21)
The Index is available online as a PDF.
The California Green Innovation Index
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