Treasurers in 11 US states and institutional investors pledge $10 billion for green technology investment

February 15, 2008

Treasurers in 11 US states, and institutional investors such as Calpers, pledged at a UN meeting to invest more than $10 billion over the next two years in green technologies.

Cambridge Energy Research Associates said in a report that clean tech investment will exceed $7 trillion by 2030, including investment in wind turbines, solar panels and biofuels. The study warns that the rapid increase in the pace of investment and change could have a material disruptive impact on the traditional models of energy production and distribution, including disruption of the vehicle transportation market. It said that countries such as Germany in the photovoltaic sector, Brazil in biofuels, Spain in wind energy, and Asia in clean technology research and development are among the regions and countries that have established a major platform in the emerging clean tech industries.

Greentech Media said that venture capital (VC) invested $750 million in biofuels feedstocks and technologies in 2007 led by the $70 million investment in Amyris synthetic biofuels. Overall, VC investment in renewable energy last year increased by 50 percent to $3.4 billion.

The total investment represented a significant acceleration in the 2nd half of the year. The Motley Fool reported that cleantech investment by venture capital increased to $1.1 billion in the first half of 2007, up 35% from 2006.

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Written by Jim Lane · Filed Under Producer News, Stock & Financial Outlook