Accomplishments and Predictions

Accomplishments and Predictions
September 02, 2010 Posted by: Matt Maloney

Controversy, consternation, and skepticism always swirl around Cleantech and policy, highlighted most recently by the disappointing COP 15 climate meeting in Copenhagen in December. There was plenty of debate but little in the way of real direction. Despite that, however, it’s instructive to reflect on progress in the last several years to gain perspective on the breadth of the opportunity.

The world’s renewable energy generating capacity in 2009 is greater than that forecasted by the International Energy Association (IEA) in 2003 for the year 2020, according to BNEF¹The EU generates 15 percent of its electricity from renewable sourcesRelentless advances in technology continue to bring costs closer to fossil fuelsHalf of light-vehicle transportation fuel needs in Brazil are now met by biofuelsThe EU has established the first large-scale carbon trading marketAt more than $150 billion the clean energy financing market is tenfold over 20002009 clean energy revenue (solar, wind, and biofuels) grew by 11.4 percent to $139 billion – and all three sectors contributed growth, according to Clean Edge²Globally, there were 831,000 jobs in solar and wind power alone, according to Clean...Read More