Because of global warming, energy scarcity, and due to the huge potential profits of  green development, countries are paying much closer attention to clean energy technologies. In the past few years global green markets have been booming. Amongst them, the Chinese market is increasing particularly dramatically, in part because of the Chinese government green strategy. Read on for the essential figures of this Green Revolution.

I. Globe

<Global Green Investment Market>

♠ 2008, a second milestone for investment in green companies and projects

♠ In spite of the economic downturn, 2008 green investment in companies and projects expanded to $155 billion, a more than four-fold increase on 2004

Wind turbines in Xinjiang, China. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

<Investment by Technology and Green Jobs>

♠ 2008, nearly $120 billion were spent on green technologies

♠ 2008 green investment on wind was $52 billion, solar $34 billion, biofuels $17 billion, biomass & waste-to-energy $8 billion, marine & small-hydro $3 billion, geothermal $2 billion, efficiency $2 billion, other low carbon tech/services $2 billion, increased 1%, 49%, -9%, -25%, -5%, 149%, -33%, -37% respectively

♠ VC/PE new investment in 2008: solar $5.5 billion, biofuels $2 billion, wind $1.8 billion, efficiency $1.5 billion, biomass & waste-to-energy $0.7 billion, geothermal $0.5 billion, marine & small-hydro $0.3 billion, other low carbon techs/services $1.2 billion

♠ Public markets new investment in 2008: solar $6.4 billion, wind $3.2 billion, biofuels $0.7 billion, efficiency $0.3 billion, geothermal $0.3 billion, biomass & waste-to-energy $0.2 billion, marine & small-hydro $0 billion, other low carbon techs/services $0.3 billion

♠ Asset Finance new investment in 2008: wind $47.9 billion, solar $22.1 billion, biofuels $14.9 billion, biomass & waste-to-energy $7.4 billion, marine & small-hydro $3.6 billion, geothermal $1.9 billion, efficiency and other low carbon techs/services $2.2 billion

♠ Green jobs: growing faster than other sectors. Solar PV industry presents 200,000 jobs and wind power sector 400,000 ones

<Greentech Investment Trend>

♠ New Investment in merely wind, solar, and biofuels would be huge. In the next decade or so, it is estimated the amount would reach $325 billion in 2018 from $120 billion in 2008

♠ Wind’s leading position continues to be driven by asset finance, as new generation capacity is added worldwide. The projected growth (2008-2018) is $88 billion from $52 billion to $140 billion

♠ Solar continues to be one of the fastest growing sectors for new investment. The projected growth (2008-2018) is $47 billion from $34 billion to $81 billion

♠ Biofuels technology investment is now focusing on finding second-generation/non-food biofuels, and it will continue to grow fast. The projected growth (2008-2018) is $90 billion from $17 billion to $106 billion

<Greentech Sales Market and Its Trend>

♠ Green technology market is a large and growing one. In 2007, total sales were $882 billion. Energy efficiency sales totaled $756 billion, and renewable energy added $126 billion

♠ Between 2000 and 2008, worldwide annual growth averaged 24% for wind energy (from 4 to 27 GW annual installed capacity), 53% for solar (0.3 to 5.6 GW annual installed capacity), 31% for biodiesel (2 to 11 Mton output) and 29% for energy-saving light bulbs (from 528 million to 2.4 billion units sold)

♠ By 2020, green technology, energy efficiency and renewable energy segments, will grow by 2.5% and 9% per year to $1106 billion and $385 billion respectively. It is estimated in 2020, the total global market for green technology could be $2240 billion ($2.24 trillion)

II. China

“Not the Great Recession, BUT China’s Green Leap Forward” –Thomas Friedman

♠ Growth shifts to developing world: on a regional basis, investment in Europe in 2008 was $49.7 billion, a rise of 2%, and in North America was $30.1 billion, a fall of 8%. With developed country market growth stalled (down 1.7% in total), developing countries surged forward 27% over 2007

♠ China has lead in green technology investment in Asia, with $15.6 billion of new investment, mostly in new wind projects, and some biomass plants, an 18% increase on 2007

♠ In 2009, the Chinese government launched the world’s largest green stimulus plan of $221 billion, and supported its state-owned enterprises and private sector to develop the green technology industry.

♠ Wind power: As of 2008, there were over 80 wind turbine manufacturers and 200 wind developers in China. Currently, domestic companies occupy over 75 per cent of China’s wind market. NDRC target by 2020 is to achieve 30 million GW

♠ Solar power: China’s solar industry is growing at an astonishing speed, with a present-day capacity of 2500 tons per year in solar ingot production. Significantly, there are over 3500 solar water heating (SWH) system manufacturers in China—largest SWH market in the world. NDRC target by 2020 is to achieve 1.85 GW of solar capacity and 300 million square meters of SWH

♠ Other green technology targets: by 2020, NDRC aims at achieving capacity of: large hydro 225 GW (2008: 121 GW), small hydro 75 GW (2008: 51 GW), biomass power 30 GW (2008: 3.6 GW), bioethanol 12.7bn liters (2008: 1.9bn liters), biodiesel 2.4bn liters (2008: 0.1bn liters)

♠ Potential market size: $500 billion to $1 trillion per year for green technologies

♠ Impact: every $100 billion green investment, GDP would grow by $143 billion, tax revenues by $1 billion, and household consumption by $60 billion. It has already, in fact, provided 600,000 jobs in SWH industry. By 2030, some estimates suggest half of the all country’s households could have the facilities

China is expected to become a much bigger player in clean wind technology by 2020. Photo courtesy of Chinafacts.org