Cascadia Capital, an investment bank serving both public and private growth companies around the world, has published its predictions for sustainable industries in 2011. One of the four predictions is that waste-to-energy technologies will grow and become part of mainstream society.

Though focused on the corporate end of the renewable energies spectrum, Cascadia Capital's "Top Sustainable Industries Predictions for 2011" are important as they hint at what the future could contain for green products.

Of particular interest to consumers are the "waste as energy" trend and the work of companies such as InEnTec. InEnTec, which was recently honored as 2010 Top Innovator by the Wall Street Journal, uses new technologies to transform industrial, household and even medical waste into electricity and fuel for transport; Cascadia Capital predicts that by 2011, continued investment in this area could lead to the widespread commercialization of waste to energy technology and lead the way for cars or houses that are indirectly powered by household waste.

(Source: Waste as energy - a key trend for the sustainable industry in 2011 [Independent])