'Salvation and profit': deconstructing the clean-tech bubble

From 2004 to 2008, a bubble formed in clean technologies, such as solar, biofuels, batteries and other renewable energy sources. In this paper, we analyse this clean-tech bubble through the lens of the Social Bubble Hypothesis, which holds that bubbles can accelerate technological innovation. We synthesise the development of the clean-tech bubble, its history, and the role of venture capital and government funding in catalysing it, and present evidence that the clean-tech bubble constituted an example of an innovation-accelerating process.