As the country was gripped by economic uncertainty, which came to a head just now, one sector had plenty of venture capitalists pouring money into it. Deborah Gage at The San Francisco Chronicle reports that cleantech funding remained robust during the third quarter.

Clean technology startups once again raised a record amount of venture capital in the third quarter, $2.6 billion, with 42 percent of it going to companies in California, according to a new report.

More than two-thirds of the funding went to firms in the United States.

But the torrid pace may not continue, she writes. Eventually, the economy will catch up with everyone.

Although the sector is expected to continue to attract investment, certain players may feel the squeeze. Brian Fan, senior director of research at the Cleantech Group, noted, for instance, that "the cellulosic guys are years away from production," limiting their attractiveness to venture capitalists that will obviously want to see returns sooner.

A recent PricewaterhouseCoopers study (press release) found that while IPOs are at a 30-year low, VC activity pressed on, particularly in cleantech.

VC investment in start-ups has remained strong, while funding of capital-intensive sectors such as Cleantech and Life Sciences companies has continued. This suggests a continued trend of more accelerated investment at both ends of the pipeline -- in Start-up/Seed companies and in more mature companies, especially those in the Later stage, based on MoneyTree Report findings.

They also note that the extended funding cycles create an expectation of big IPOs and acquisitions when the markets cooperate. So you'll likely see some big deals when Wall Street gets back to normal. Whatever that is these days.