U.S. expert praises Stockholm cleantech.

Ranking number nine on Shawn Lesser's top ten list of ”green good guys,” Stockholm's Milieu Technology Center was praised by the American expert.

From eyesore to waterfront utopia: Scandinavian aesthetics and sensible “green” solutions have been happily combined in the Stockholm suburb of Hammarby Sjöstad.
Ranking number nine on Shawn Lesser's top ten list of ”green good guys,” Stockholm's Milieu Technology Center was praised by the American expert for the creation of green collar jobs, continued economic development, and a desire to achieve energy independence. Both the CleanTech Center in Syracuse, NY and Stockholm's Milieu Technology Center were given kudos for their research and innovations at the forefront of the green innovation movement.
In what was once a run-down industrial and inner harbor area, a popular and attractive new residential district has been created.
”The Stockholm cleantech sector...has created cleantech jobs for an estimated 25,000 employees. The region is also home to an internationally well known sustainable city area in Hammarby Sjöstad (just to the south of downtown Stockholm) and one emerging in nearby Norra Djurgårdsstaden,” said Lesser in giving Sweden's capital the acclaim.
View of Stockholm Castle. Photo: Bo Zaunders
He continued by noting that Sweden is a country fully embracing green technologies, with 43.3% of total energy consumption coming from renewable sources. Other important factors included government initiatives and programs, large investment mandates, entrepreneurial innovation as well as cultural and social drivers.
Moon over Af Chapman, now a youth hostel, anchored by Skeppsholmen. Photo: Bo Zaunders.
Strong legislation has advanced the cleantech industry, which is supported locally by the Society of Nature Conservation, WWF and Greenpeace and backed by resources from AP7 Pension Fund, Northzone Ventures, Sustainable Technologies Funds, and SEB Venture Capital.
Sailing with Stockholm City Hall in the background.
Stockholm was chosen as Environmental Capital of the year 2010 by the European Commission, and is home to cleantech investors Sustainable Technologies Fund, Northzone, Pegroco Invest and Stora Enso Ventures, and is also home to the office of Cleantech Scandinavia. Cluster success stories include Vertical Wind, Seabased, Chromogenics Sweden, Climatewell, Scandinavian Biogas.