https://www.wral.com/north-carolina-trying-to-attract-more-cleantech-companies/18327468/ > Knowing what "cleantech" or "clean technology" is is the first step to understanding why it could be important to North Carolina > "Essentially it's any technology or process that improves the quality of people's lives and reduces the consumption of energy," said Susan Sanford, who is the executive director of the Research Triangle Cleantech Cluster.