The Bloomberg New Energy Finance Summit closed on a bullish note last week with attendees predicting that global investments in renewable energy could peak to $500 billion by 2020.
That’s more than double New Energy Finance’s own prediction which estimates that annual global expenditure on renewable energy projects will increase from $90 billion in 2009 to $150 billion in 2020 and $200 billion by 2030.
The market research firm also predicts that over the next decade renewable energy will make up 22 percent of the world’s installed power generation base, up from 13 percent today, and could possibly constitute 31 percent of power by 2030.
Fueling most of that is Asia and in particular China, which according to Michael Liebreich, chief executive of Bloomberg New Energy Finance, “is on track to become a clean energy super power.”
What about the U.S.? It’s also on track for a “green super power belt” but faces more hurdles from a hodgepodge of climate change deniers and carbon-dependent states fighting hard to delay the pricing of carbon.
According to Liebreich real U.S. commitment to the sector “remains uncertain, with the country apparently locked in a period of introversion while its strategic rivals establish leadership positions.