2011 GLOBAL NEW ENERGY INVESTMENT

Solar surge drives record clean energy investment in 2011; Total new investment in clean energy increased 5% to $260bn in 2011, despite the sluggish global economy and a painful squeeze on manufacturers
12 January 2012 (Bloomberg New Energy Finance)

"Global investment in clean energy reached a new record of $260bn in 2011, up 5% on 2010 and almost five times the total of $53.6bn in 2004. Investment in solar far outstripped that in wind, and perhaps of most note, US clean energy investment moved back ahead of China for the first time since 2008, according to the latest authoritative data from analysis company Bloomberg New Energy Finance. Last year also saw the one trillionth dollar invested in clean energy globally since the company started compiling data in 2004.

"The record investment figures for 2011 are particularly striking because they were achieved during a turbulent year for the world economy in general and for the clean energy sector in particular. The industry has suffered severe pressure on the profit margins of manufacturers, a sharp fall in share prices, some notable bankruptcies, cuts in European government subsidy support, and a reduction in the availability of bank finance."

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"2011 highlights include a 36% surge in total investment in solar technology, to $136.6bn. This was nearly double the $74.9bn investment in wind power, which was down 17% on the previous year. This is not the first time that Bloomberg New Energy Finance has shown total investment in solar out-pacing that in wind (on today’s revised figures for prior years, solar exceeded wind in 2004 and again in 2010), but this is the first time there has been such a huge gap…

"The third-largest sector for investment in 2011 after solar and wind was energy-smart technologies, including smart grid, power storage, efficiency and advanced transport. This area saw total investment of $19.2bn, the bulk of it in corporate R&D and venture capital and private equity raisings. This was however down 17% on 2010 levels…[B]iofuels saw total investment edge up from $8.6bn to $9bn, biomass and waste-to-energy suffered an 18% setback to $10.8bn, geothermal slipped from $3.2bn to $2.8bn, marine marked time at $0.3bn, and small hydro fell 25% to $3bn…"