Every cloud has a silver lining — even the storm clouds of global warming, environmental disasters, and industrial pollution. These natural and manmade dangers can provide new insurance opportunities for businesses willing to look beyond the usual.

Ceres, a national coalition of investors, environmental groups and other public interest organizations, described over 400 new insurance-related opportunities in a landmark report, "From Risk to Opportunity 2007: Insurer Responses to Climate Change." The report detailed how both niche and mainstream insurance companies are developing new product lines and refining older products to address energy efficiency, green building design, carbon emissions trading, wind power, biofuels, and sustainable driving practices.

The Insurance Information Institute (III) recently detailed some of the new industries to insure — wind farms and other alternative fuel facilities foremost among them — and the emerging financial risks, such as companies involved in carbon trading. It is seemingly a wide-open field. Marsh USA, Inc., says that only two to three percent of businesses currently purchase environmental insurance, despite the fact that standard liability contracts don't cover pollution and that all businesses face exposure.