No Sign of a Slowdown: Market for Clean Energy Grows to $77 Billion in 2007, Will Reach $254 Billion By 2017
Global clean-energy markets are expanding rapidly, with revenues in four benchmark sectors — biofuels, wind power, solar photovoltaics, and fuel cells — up 40 percent from $55 billion in 2006 to $77.3 billion in 2007, according to the Clean Energy Trends 2008 report released today. The four sectors are projected to more than triple over the next decade, growing to $254.5 billion by 2017.
The annual Clean Energy Trends report, produced by leading clean-tech research and publishing firm Clean Edge, can be downloaded at no cost at www.cleanedge.com.
The 2008 report finds that for the first time three leading clean-energy technologies each surpassed $20 billion in revenue.
Global production and wholesale pricing of biofuels reached $25.4 billion in 2007 and is projected to hit $81.1 billion by 2017. The global biofuels market last year consisted of more than 13 billion gallons of ethanol and more than 2 billion gallons of biodiesel production worldwide.
Wind power is expected to expand from $30.1 billion in 2007 to $83.4 billion in 2017. Last year’s global wind power installations reached a record 20,000 megawatts (MW), equivalent in size to 20 conventional fossil-fuel power plants.
Solar photovoltaics (including modules, system components, and installation), which totaled $20.3 billion last year, will more than triple to $74 billion by 2017. Annual installations in 2007 were just shy of 3,000 MW worldwide.
New global investments in energy technologies — including venture capital (VC), project finance, public markets, and research and development — have expanded by 60 percent from $92.6 billion in 2006 to $148.4 billion in 2007, according to research firm and Clean Energy Trends content partner New Energy Finance. In the U.S., venture capitalists invested $2.7 billion in the clean-energy sector, representing almost 10 percent of total VC activity.
Clean Energy Trends 2008 also outlines five trends poised to make an impact on the markets this year. They describe:
How small start-ups are powering markets for electric vehicles
Sustainable cities are being designed and built from the ground up
Overseas players are powering the U.S. wind market boom
Geothermal energy is experiencing a global renaissance as a clean-energy resource
New technologies are helping oceangoing ships take a cleaner tack
“Clean energy has moved from the margins to the mainstream and the proof is in these numbers,” said Clean Edge co-founder and principal Ron Pernick. “Amid last year’s plummeting housing prices, rising foreclosure rates, and record high oil prices, clean energy continued to provide a bright spot in an otherwise sluggish economy.”
About Clean Energy Trends 2008
Clean Edge issues its annual Clean Energy Trends to track key developments in clean-energy markets. Past reports have been downloaded by tens of thousands of individuals in government, finance, industry, and the media. Clean Energy Trends 2008 is made possible by the support of its sponsors, including premier sponsors Deloitte; Hobbs & Towne; Jefferies & Company; and New Energy Finance. Major sponsors include Benaroya Companies; Pacific Growth Equities; RockPort Capital Partners; Stoel Rives; The NASDAQ OMX Group; and Page One Public Relations. The report can be downloaded for free at www.cleanedge.com.
About Clean Edge, Inc.
Clean Edge, Inc., with offices in the San Francisco Bay Area and Portland, Oregon, is a leading research and publishing firm that helps companies, investors, and policymakers understand and profit from clean technologies. Through its publications and events, Clean Edge tracks and analyzes clean-tech markets, trends, and opportunities. The company co-produces the NASDAQ® Clean Edge® US Indexes which track US-listed clean-energy companies and co-produces the annual Clean-Tech Investor Summit with IBF. Founded in 2000 by environmental and high-tech business pioneers Ron Pernick and Joel Makower, Clean Edge and its network of partners and affiliates offer unparalleled intelligence and insight into the clean-tech space. For more information visit www.cleanedge.com.