According to a recent press release from PR Newswire, “The market for sustainable water solutions in the US is expected to triple from $4 billion to $15 billion by 2020.” And because of ever-rising population totals (7 billion at last check) and increasing industrialization and urban migration, the need for water resource management technologies will only continue to grow. According to PR Newswire’s report, Germany is leading the march towards the monetization of water efficient practices and protocols. The country is currently the “leading exporter of technologies that conserve resources—especially water and energy—in industrial production processes.”
How did Germany make it to number one?
* More patents registered than any other country except the US
* Policy frameworks that support both research and commercialization
* European initiatives—like Roadmap to a Resource Efficient Europe—that create opportunities for businesses while simultaneously ensuring a sustainable water supply
Apparently, Germany recently announced that it plans to become “a world champion in resource efficiency,” as announced by the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety.
So what do you think? With much of our country’s focus on the clean tech gap and the challenge of competing with China’s funding of its domestic renewable energy industry, have we dropped the ball on water resource management? Should we be aspiring to programs similar to the Roadmap to a Resource Efficient Europe? And what can we do to become our own champions of resource efficiency?