ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on sectors of activity responsible for the generation and distribution of renewable clean energy. Within the clean energy sector itself, a distinction should be made between new ventures and large existing companies. Indeed, big energy companies may like trumpeting their devotion to clean energy but there is always a suspicion that this might be an exercise in greenwashing. In line with the green business principle that managers stand to benefit from greater knowledge of the physical environment within which they operate, it is appropriate for analysis of the clean energy sector to start with a review of the underlying science. All economic activity is predicated on an expenditure of energy that has been captured and re-directed in a way that creates a concentrated force. It is important to specify that countries’ variable endowment in sun and wind–far and away the two leading clean energy sectors–makes it hard to generalise about a global renewables market.
