[By the numbers]

ColoradoBiz, Sept, 2008

$340 million.

Annual value of a five-year contract signed by the Alliance for Sustainable Energy with the U.S. Department of Energy to manage the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden. The consortium includes five national and international collaborators, including the University of Colorado at Boulder, the Colorado School of Mines and Colorado State University.

$702 million

How much venture capital firms invested in nanotechnology startups in 2007. In July, Colorado hosted the first Nano Renewable Energy Summit.

40 million

Number of jobs that could be created by the renewable energy job market by 2030, according to studies cited by Colorado State University, which just launched a new school focused on environmental and sustainable issues.

31,500

Number of jobs created in Colorado over a 12-month period as of the end of July. In contrast, the U.S. economy lost an estimated 51,000 net jobs in July, noted economist Jeff Thredgold in the Vectra Bank Colorado Small Business Index.

Sources: University of Colorado, Lux Research, Colorado State University, Vectra Bank Colorado.