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Cleantech Investing in AustraliaCleantech investing in Australia is gaining steam. Learn about the market’skey players and how to get involved in this growing space.Climate change is a looming issue for Australians, with 82 percent concernedabout bushfires and 81 percent worried that drought or flooding will affectcrop production and food supply.This is where conscious investors look to the cleantech sector, which coverseverything from renewable energy to low-emission technologies to watertechnology to battery storage and more.What should investors know about cleantech in Australia before they jump in?Read on for a look at key factors, including market size, the industriesencompassed by cleantech and big players to watch.* * *## BRAND NEW! Take Advantage Of Silver On The Rise Before It’s Too Late##### PROMISING Stock Picks! EXCLUSIVE Interviews! JUST RELEASED Trends!##### Everything You Need To Watch The Dollars Come Pouring In!## Cleantech investing in Australia: Market sizeCleantech is growing in Australia, and one way to get a picture of the spaceis through the Deloitte Australia CleanTech (DACT) Index. It included 90companies with a combined market cap of AU$73 billion as of February 2021, andis designed to track their market-cap-weighted share price performance.Launched in 2008, the DACT has now outperformed the wider market for sevenyears in a row, which according to Deloitte Australia indicates growth andmaturation in the cleantech sector.The post-COVID-19 recovery presents new opportunities as cleantech cancontribute to both economic recovery and global decarbonisation efforts. Thelatest DACT report shows it is “well above” its pre-coronavirus levels,suggesting a positive investment environment for low-carbon companies.## Cleantech investing in Australia: Industry breakdownDeloitte Australia breaks the cleantech market down into a number of sub-sectors.The firm emphasizes that cleantech is different than socially responsibleinvestments and environmental, social and governance investments, better knownas SRI and ESG.The distinction is that SRI and ESG look at incremental improvements incompany performance, while cleantech is about companies that positivelyenhance communities and ecologies.Here’s a look at the cleantech sub-sectors Deloitte Australia mentions: * Biofuel: corn ethanol, sugar ethanol, cellulosic ethanol, biodiesel, algae production and biotech providers. * Biogas generation: landfill gas, waste to energy, biomass digester gas and biosygas. * Biomaterials: organically based materials and plastics, energy materials and green chemistry. * Carbon trading: environmental offsets, carbon farming, soil management and livestock management. * Energy storage and fuel cells: Energy storage systems, batteries, pumped hydro and fuel cell technologies. * Environmental service providers: environmental engineering, specialist services and equipment providers. * Geothermal: hot fractured rock, conventional geothermal, technology and equipment providers. * Green buildings: green building design, precinct design, products and services, rating systems and building management. * Smart grid and energy efficiency: demand response, grid management, peer-to-peer trading, energy efficiency, home automation and internet of things. * Solar: traditional photovoltaics, concentrating photovoltaics, nanotechnologies and solar thermal. * Vehicle technologies: hybrid, flex fuel, hydrogen and electric vehicles and recharging and refuelling infrastructure. * Waste management recycling: residential and industrial waste collection and disposal and recycling operations. * Water: desalination, water reuse, sensor technologies, water efficiency, utility management and treatment technologies. * Wave, tidal and hydro: surface and submerged wave technologies, tidal, major and mini-hydro and pumped storage schemes. * Wind: onshore, offshore, urban, turbines, developers, tower and blade manufacturers and community wind farms.## Are You Investing In Gold Yet?##### What Happened To Gold In Q1? Which Gold Stocks To Watch In 2021?##### Exclusive Information You Need To Make An Informed Decision.## Cleantech investing in Australia: Major companiesAs mentioned, the DACT tracks the performance of 90 Australian cleantechcompanies, and is intended to provide a measure of the market. Investors whowant to enter this growing tech sector can start by exploring some of theindex’s top stocks by market cap.Consistently performing renewable energy stock Meridian Energy (ASX:MEZ)regularly tops the list by market cap, and is also New Zealand’s largestrenewable energy power company.Other major index players include Reece Group (ASX:REH), Australia’s largestsupplier of plumbing and bathroom supplies. Notable examples in the renewableenergy space include Mercury (ASX:MCY), which deals with hydroelectric-generating and geothermal plants in New Zealand, and Contact Energy (ASX:CEN),another New Zealand electricity generator that dabbles in natural gas andbroadband retail.One of the biggest companies in the waste sector is Cleanaway Waste (ASX:CWY),which is an end-to-end e-waste recycler that employs some 6,000 Australiansover its 250 branches nationwide.Cleanaway Waste performed well throughout the coronavirus crisis and is well-placed to capitalise on Australia’s growing efforts to deal with plastic, aswell as the country’s desire to be waste self-sufficient after China’s ban onaccepting recycling from Australia.## Cleantech investing in Australia: Other opportunitiesInvestors specifically on the lookout for cleantech startups instead of listedstocks may want to join EnergyLab, which purports to be Australia and NewZealand’s largest cleantech acceleration program. EnergyLab receivessubmissions from cleantech startups in the region that are looking to raisecapital and passes select opportunities on to its members.Looking forward at renewable energy uptake in Australia, the country’s CleanEnergy Council describes 2020 as significant in that more than one-quarter ofthe nation’s total electricity generation came from renewable sources for thefirst time.The top renewable energy source for Australia last year was wind, followed bysmall-scale solar and hydro. The Clean Energy Council notes that the country’sstates and territories have taken the lead on renewable energy policy ratherthan the federal government.Further into the future, an abundance of sunshine and natural resources meansthe nation has the ability to move to a 100 percent renewable system, as perthe Australian Energy Market Operator. However, trading in gas- and coal-powered electricity would require major political shifts.For investors, it’s clear that as Australia looks for climate solutions andeconomic gains post-COVID-19, there will be no shortage of opportunities inthe cleantech space to take advantage of in the near future.Don’t forget to follow @INN_Australia for real-time updates!Securities Disclosure: I, Ronelle Richards, hold no direct investment interestin any company mentioned in this article.