by Brianna Crandall — April 10, 2015—Global investment in renewable energy technologies increased 17% to $270 billion in 2014, according to the recently released Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment 2015, the eighth edition of the report from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). Based on data from Bloomberg New Energy Finance, the report showed the first global increase in investment in renewable energy technologies in three years.
China saw the largest renewable energy investments in 2014, with a record $83.3 billion, which was up 39% from 2013, according to a summary from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE). The United States was second at $38.3 billion, up 7% on the year but below its all-time high reached in 2011. In third was Japan, at $35.7 billion, 10% higher than in 2013 and its biggest total ever.
The report also indicated that a continuing sharp decline in technology costs—particularly in solar but also in wind—means that every dollar invested in renewable energy bought significantly more generating capacity in 2014.
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Because the Global Trends report cites statistics on renewable energy investment only, its findings differ from Bloomberg New Energy Finance’s clean energy investment total published earlier this year, notes EERE. The clean energy totals include not only renewables but also energy-smart technologies such as smart grid, efficiency, advanced transportation, and power storage.
An executive summary of key findings of the Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment 2015 report is available from the Frankfurt School-UNEP Collaborating Centre for Climate and Sustainable Energy Finance Web site.
