The CTI Private Financing Advisory Network (PFAN) identifies promising clean energy projects at an early stage and provides mentoring for development of a business plan, investment pitch, and growth strategy, significantly enhancing the possibility of financial closure. Over 221 clean energy projects have been inducted into the CTI PFAN Project Development Pipeline. These projects include biogas, biomass, waste to energy, clean transport, wind, solar, small hydro and energy efficiency initiatives. 44 projects have achieved financial closure with over US$541 million of investment raised.

Advances in anaerobic digestion technology by the CSIR (Council for Scientific and Industrial Research) allow the combination of anaerobic digestion processes with membrane bioreactor technology for an enhanced integrated system for sewage treatment, including effective energy recovery and nutrient reuse as well as the production of treated water of a very high quality. This system will be able to provide complete sewage treatment almost anywhere, depending on the availability of an adequate power source for the entire operation.

This paper aims to examine whether public policy has played a significant role in fostering innovation in renewable energy technologies within OECD countries. The analysis covers a 26 year time period (1978-2003) and uses variable patent activity as a proxy for technological innovation, examining the role of public policy instruments on this issue. The study assesses the effect of numerous policy variants, for instance:

price supports
tax credits
voluntary programmes
tariffs.

Obligations on patent activity are also examined in the spheres of: