Andy Coyne questions whether there is enough government support for clean-tech initiatives.

It's that time of the year when Insider turns its attentions to all matters green. Its not that we ignore sustainable issues the rest of the time but rather that we bring together a number of themes to make up the 'green pages' in the August issue of the magazine.

I must admit that I was one of those who thought that issues relating to sustainability would move well down the list of corporate priorities during the economic downturn. This theory - known as the green crunch - suggests that following the low carbon agenda is a nice something to have rather than a must have during times of crisis.

But not a bit of it. Anecdotal evidence tells us that firms which have pursued green policies have actually prospered during the last year or so.

And it never fails to amaze me how much of this stuff is going on. Two stories this week by way of example.

Firstly, Smurfit Kappa Recycling has just picked up an award for its partnership with Birmingham City Council, a partnership which has reduced the amount of waste sent to landfill. Since the partnership was formed the amount of paper recovered from the waste stream for recycling has increased from 750 tonnes to around 40,000 tonnes today.

All of the paper and cardboard collected is recycled locally at the Smurfit Kappa paper mill in Nechells, helping to minimise the carbon footprint of the whole collection service. Every year the mill uses around 220,000 tonnes of waste paper and cardboard to make new reels of brown paper, which are then used to make new cardboard boxes and packaging.

Then there is the tale of WMG, formerly Warwick Manufacturing Group at the University of Warwick, which is using Dymola modelling technology to help develop the next generation of low carbon vehicles. It is an advanced research project which is intended to ensure Britain’s leading role in shaping the future of passenger transport.

Scores of similar stories come across my desk every month and we do our best to give them the publicity they deserve.

One of the reasons why there is so much of this stuff about is because there is government backing for carbon reduction schemes but the main driver is that a lot of the technology used in this area is new and innovative and demand for these type of services is genuinely on the increase. It is one of those rare things: a good news story all around.

I know there is an 'Oliver syndrome' in always asking for more, but in an area of genuine growth it seems to me that there needs to be more of a push from government to help businesses which are developing products and processes to aid sustainability.

I was disappointed a few months ago when Coventry electric van maker Modec - very much a poster boy for the green automotive sector - was allowed to go to the wall. And I watched a TV programme the other night that focused on the government’s refusal to back the solar energy industry to anywhere near the degree it is supported in countries such as Germany.

This seems to me to be at odds with the coalition's bid to be "the greenest government ever" and its formation of a green investment bank to invest in low-carbon infrastructure such as renewable energy and the development of new, clean technologies.

We're genuinely good in this region and in this country at finding the solutions to some of the world's ecological problems. Let's not waste that expertise by turning the funding tap off.