According to the forum circular, investment in U.S. cleantech went from $286 million in 2001 to $3.7 billion in 2010. However venture investments in cleantech fell 44% in the first quarter of 2011 compared to the first quarter of 2010 as venture capitalists became more cautious.  (According to the Cleantech Group, preliminary numbers for 2011 suggest that global cleantech venture and corporate investments totaled $8.99 billion, and cleantech M&A reached an aggregate value of $41.2 billion. Needless to say, the group is optimistic about the cleantech outlook for 2012.)

The panel includes Ryan Kottenstette, of Khosla Ventures, and Sven Stroban of Mohr Davidow Ventures. Moderator Christina Ellwood will try to assess the appetite for cleantech venture investing following the bankruptcy of Solyndra, and assess the ability of venture firms to raise the money they need to place bets in the sector. (Note the National Venture Capital Association’s sober outlook for venture capital for 2012. In a survey conducted by the group last year, 55% of venture capitalists sampled said they expect cleantech investing to decline this year.)

SVForum members get in for $25, and non-members pay $35; there’s also a $10 charge at the door, but dinner is included. (Cash bar.)

The event will be at the Crow Canyon Country Club, 711 Silver Lake Drive, Danville, CA 94526 on January 18th.

As Bloomberg reports, from 2006 to 2010, over U.S. $535 Billion flowed into Clean Tech startups from venture capital firms, private equity, and IPO, fueling 4,236 ventures. What they didn’t count on was a combination of blindsiding by technological innovation, market forces, and irreducible physical laws that KO’d many of these startups before they could emerge to liquidity events.

Then the first hammer fell—Solyndra went under and brought a glaring spotlight on the dual questionable practices of trying to beat a foreign government intent on dumping solar panel prices and milking public policy for loans unsupportable through due diligence. Within weeks, several more Clean Tech giants were under intense scrutiny.

Simultaneously, worldwide oil price benchmarks—having stabilized after skyrocketing to over $100/barrel on Middle East uncertainty, supply interruptions, and global debt crisis speculation—suddenly flattened out. Bloomberg’s article implies that one reason for this paradox was the discovery and deployment of new fracking technology that vastly expanded the recoverable natural gas supply worldwide, but especially in the U.S.A. Without fuel prices marching upward, the economics of Clean Tech couldn’t compete.

Where does Clean Tech go from here? Not back to the venture capital well for more infusions, if the sentiment on Sand Hill Road has any say. I’d put a vast majority of those 4,236 ventures on the slate for write-down, sale, consolidation, or old-fashioned fire sales.

There’s a lesson to be learned here for everyone who tried to milk this cow that refused to stand still and obey their predictions. Imbalances in the market tend to be self correcting—and markets are never as reliable as regulators in keeping markets in check. So, there’s no Sarbanes-Oxley repeat in Clean Tech on the horizon—rising energy prices answer to more than a federal mandate to spend compliance dollars. Take those moral certitudes to the bank.