US knows which way the wind blows in clean-tech investmentMathew...

US knows which way the wind blows in clean-tech investment
Mathew Murphy
May 20, 2009
INVESTMENT in wind, solar photovoltaics and biofuels has propelled the global renewables industry to fourfold growth over the past four years, with it reaching $US120 billion ($A155 billion) last year, a leading renewable energy report says.
But clean technology has shown it is not immune to the economic downturn. Total clean energy investment dropped 23 per cent for the second half of 2008 from the previous corresponding period, falling particularly sharply after September.
The 2009 Renewables Global Status Report, commissioned by international renewables group REN21 and financed by the US and German governments, shows the US became the investment leader in 2008 because of record wind-power installations and ethanol investments.
"About $US24 billion in new investment took place in the US, or 20 per cent of the total global investment," the report said. "Spain, China and Germany were not far behind."
The US also outdid long-time leader Germany as the leading wind-power nation, with 25 gigawatts of installed capacity compared with Germany's 24 gigawatts.
Installed wind power globally grew by 29 per cent in 2008 compared with 2007 to reach 121 gigawatts. "More than 80 countries around the world had commercial wind power installations by 2008," the report said.
"Three sub-Saharan African countries had commercial wind-power installations and projects were under development in others."
Grid-connected solar photovoltaics continued to be the fastest-growing power generation technology, jumping 70 per cent globally from 7.5 gigawatts of capacity in 2007 to almost 13 gigawatts last year.
China overtook Japan as the leading country in solar photovoltaic cell production, which grew globally by 90 per cent last year. Geothermal power capacity climbed above 10 gigawatts last year, with the US the world development leader.
For the first time, last year, added renewable power in the US and European Union exceeded added power capacity from conventional power.
Source: The Age