The latest Economist magazine seems to think so - as it says;

"The multi-billion dollar question is whether the skills that make somebody a successful  executive, entrepreneur or investor in digital technology also work with green technology"

I agree that there's perhaps too much focus on the numbers and the underlying technologies. What's all too often underrated, is how good or bad is the management. That's why I launched the AEI CEO Interview series, to add a qualitative, vital intangible angle to any given company and an insight into the people behind the firms and how they see their industry panning out.

Now back to the geeks, who are more often than not, the investors rather than the entrepreneurs in this scenario. And what's interesting is that they tend to be more involved in the riskier venture capital part of the alternative energy marketplace - people like Vinod Kholsa - rather than where AEI steps in, the public markets. The exception of course is Bill Gates and Pacific Ethanol - a far from successful investment .