Clean energy sees strong Q1 growth

Despite the recession, recent reports indicate that the clean energy sector continues to remain strong globally, despite the economic turbulence. A report from Bloomberg New Energy Finance noted that worldwide financial investment in clean energy reached US$ 27.3 billion in the first quarter of 2010, up 31% from the first quarter of 2009, but down 13.6% from the fourth quarter.

China dominated the asset financing with investments of US$ 6.5 billion, Bloomberg's figures reported a slight increase in asset financing in the United States, asset financing rose from US$ 2.4 billion in the fourth quarter of 2009 to US$ 3.5 billion in the first quarter of 2010. Global venture capital and private equity investment hit US$ 2.9 billion in the first quarter, up from US$ 1.7 billion in the previous quarter, but public market investment fell to US$ 2 billion, down from US$ 5.8 billion.

In another study, the Clean Edge research firm tallied revenue for wind power, biofuels, and solar photovoltaic (PV) technologies in 2009, and found that they grew 15.8% to US$ 144.5 billion worldwide. The report's authors noted that this was somewhat surprising, given the sour economy. Clean Edge noted the robustness of the windfarm market, which attracted US$ 63.5 billion, up from US$ 51.4 billion in 2008. The report also noted that sales of biofuels reached US$ 44.9 billion last year. The only decline was in the solar industry, which Clean Edge said dropped 6% to US$ 36.1 billion, although part of this decline was attributed to the decline in the cost of solar modules.

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