UN report says global investment in renewable energy up by 60 per cent in 2007

According to an UN environment report, wind is powering the clean energy revolution. Global investment in "green" energy was at the top of the list in 2007 and has continued to grow this year despite the flutter in the global financial markets, the report added.

Globally $148bn (£75bn) was spent on green power last year, up 60 per cent from 2006, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) said. Due to soaring oil prices, concerns over energy security, global warming issues and government support investment on renewable energy such as wind, solar and biofuels last year rose three times faster then predicted, the report said.

Wind energy got the most investment but solar power grew fastest as a sector. investment in Ethanol and other biofuels fell by almost a third, due to higher crop prices in the US.

In its Global Trends in Sustainable Energy Investment 2008 report, UNEP has predicted that by 2012 about $450bn will be spent each year on green energy projects, climbing to more than $600bn from 2020. "Investment in the sustainable energy sectors must continue to grow strongly if targets for greenhouse gas reductions and renewables and efficiency increases are to be met," it said.

The majority of investment in 2007 was done by Europe, the report said, followed by the US.  China, India and Brazil drew investor interests, with a share of about $26bn for their green projects, up by 12 per cent in 2004.

Investment had tightened during the first few months of 2008, the report added, with several developers of wind power technology selling up after "realising that with the tightening of credit markets, they could not finance themselves", UNEP said. But investment rebounded in most areas during the second three month quarter of the year.

In March 2008, global installed wind capacity exceeded 100 gigawatts, or enough to power around 75 million homes.