According to a report from Pew Charitable Trusts, the global clean energy sector has seen 630 percent growth in finance and investments since 2004 and last year, Australia ranked number 12 in G20 countries for clean energy investment.
Pew’s “Who’s Winning The Clean Energy Race” states Australia’s 2010 clean energy investments increased sharply to USD$3.3 billion, increasing 104 percent over 2009 and placing it at no.4 in terms of one year growth. Much of the gain was fueled by over a billion dollars of investment in the nation’s solar energy sector.
Wind power still leads the way in terms of investment, accounting for 57%, with solar power at 34%. Pew states at the end of 2010, Australia had 4 gigawatts capacity of renewable energy, representing 0.8% of the the G-20 total.
Australia ranked number 5 in “investment intensity”, clean energy investment per dollar of gross domestic product, and in terms of in terms of small distributed energy generation investment, such as home solar power systems, Australia ranked no.7.
Investments in small-scale residential solar grew by 100 percent to $56.4 billion in the G-20 during 2010. Germany led the pack, accounting for nearly half the total, followed by Japan, France, Italy and the United States respectively.
Pew says China has cemented its position as the world’s clean energy superpower, attracting a record USD$54.4 billion in clean energy investments last year, a 39 percent jump over 2009. Germany’s investments doubled to USD$41.2 billion and ranked second in the G-20, leap-frogging the USA.
In the United States, which was previously the world leader up until 2008, $34 billion in private clean energy investments were made. The biggest drop in rankings was the United Kingdom, falling from 5th to 13th.
The full “Who’s Winning The Clean Energy Race” report can be viewed here (PDF)
