We are living at a time when the environment is rarely out of the news. Only recently, scientists at the University of East Anglia got themselves into a tangle over whether the evidence for climate change had been “sexed up”.

But the scientific consensus is clear — the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is increasing as a result of humans burning fossil fuels and, long-term this is going to increase the average temperature of the earth’s climate.

This has now also been accepted by the politicians. In December, the world’s leaders met in Copenhagen to try to come to an agreement over a new carbon dioxide deal, although the jury is still out on how successful they were.

This welter of news can seem depressing or daunting, but in the business world there is a growing trend to see climate change as an opportunity, as well as a threat.

A number of local technology companies are taking the bull by the horns and asking themselves how the emerging ‘cleantech’ sector can be exploited to their, and our, advantage.

PV Crystalox Solar, based at Milton Park, is one of the leading businesses working on the technology behind ‘photovoltaic’ solar panels.

It uses silicon technology on a large scale to produce ingots and wafers for solar power systems. By doing so, the aim is to drive down production costs and increase the efficiency of the solar cells themselves, and so make solar energy more competitive with carbon-based fuels such as coal, oil and gas.

Also linked to power generation, Green Biologics, another Milton Park firm, uses heat-loving microbes that thrive in hot conditions of up to 70 degrees centigrade.

The bacteria make biochemicals that can then be used to bring down the production costs of biofuels.

Once again, this will make these a more environmentally-friendly way of generating power than conventional fossil fuels.

As you would expect from a city with one of the highest levels of bus and bicycle use in the UK, low-carbon transport looms large in the range of technologies being explored in and around Oxford.

In the last few months, BMW has started trials of its electric Mini E, in collaboration with the Oxford City Council, Oxfordshire County Council, Scottish and Southern Electric, the South East Economic Development Agency and Oxford Brookes University.

Charging from the mains in a few hours, electric cars look likely to be a significant growth industry over the next few years and Oxford is leading the way, with lightweight super-efficient components being developed by the research team based at Oxford University’s Engineering Department.

But the ways in which local companies are innovating around the environment are by no means restricted to new ways of generating and using energy.

Local farmers are starting to think about what the change in the climate will mean for them. For some, this means a fundamental change in the way they use their land.

In the last few years we have started to see wind farms and vineyards appear on the Oxfordshire landscape, as the economics of climate change have opened up new opportunities.

These changes are rarely easy. People are keen to preserve the landscape in its current form and entrepreneurs have had to be sensitive to local concerns.

As well as all these methods of exploiting new niches in the market, there are also opportunities for local entrepreneurs to exploit the new regulatory framework that has sprung up around green issues.

One way they can do this is to understand the ways businesses can improve on their green credentials, while at the same time benefiting from the range of tax incentives available to British companies.

To help bring this massive and complex agenda together, Science Oxford will be hosting a series of events in April and May to explore the various aspects of the ‘clean and green’ question.

As well as discussing the environmental problems society faces, we will also ask what commercial opportunities are arising out of the hunt for ‘clean and green’ technology.

Of course, this is not a question that only concerns business — the season will enable local people of all ages from all walks of life to engage with the questions and examine the solutions.

After all, this is not a problem we are going to be able to solve overnight — it will need the efforts of all of us, of our children, and probably of our grandchildren, before we are able to have the prosperous, green and clean world we all want.

o For more information on the Science Oxford Clean and Green Festival, see www.scienceoxford.com