Green Tech – I agree, the polarizing aspect, although can be negative surely does separate it from everything else and describes what it is trying to achieve.

Bernadette – I think that the use of the word clean has more implications other then energy is precisely WHY it's so valuable.

Matt (Clean Tech Boston) – Thank you for your comment. I think the amount of green washing that has gone on has put a sour taste in my mouth as well. Personally, I don't really use the word at all anymore!

Martin – That's a very interesting point of view, the difference between the use of words between the general public and investors. Now that I think about it, that's completely true. I agree, it doesn't seem like there is a current distinction between green tech and clean tech but I wonder if one will form in the near future. What do you guys think?

Green Tech – I agree, the polarizing aspect, although can be negative surely does separate it from everything else and describes what it is trying to achieve.

Bernadette – I think that the use of the word clean has more implications other then energy is precisely WHY it's so valuable.

Matt (Clean Tech Boston) – Thank you for your comment. I think the amount of green washing that has gone on has put a sour taste in my mouth as well. Personally, I don't really use the word at all anymore!

Martin – That's a very interesting point of view, the difference between the use of words between the general public and investors. Now that I think about it, that's completely true. I agree, it doesn't seem like there is a current distinction between green tech and clean tech but I wonder if one will form in the near future. What do you guys think?

For the green vs. clean issue, I fall on the side of clean more because to me clean implies the goal of the technology more than green does. Perhaps it is because of the bucket loads of greenwashing that have taken place over the last two years by major corporations/industries, but to me CleanTech is anything that is working towards a cleaner future. This can range from renewable energy sources to new types of water filtration systems, to energy storage.

Both Green and Clean beat Ener for me hands down at this point — I think it is too late to change the vernacular. Just as this topic has become front-of-mind for many, “EnerTech” doesn't evoke anything. It doesn't draw a picture in the mind of what it actually is or what it may be. While it alludes to energy, that connection isn't necessarily immediately obvious.

Until there is a susinct definition of what green/clean technology encompasses and what it doesn't there wil be many different ways of referencing the same things.