[font face=Serif][font size=5]Global Renewable Energy Investment Powers to Record $257 Billion[/font]
Mon, Jun 11, 2012

[font size=4]Installations up but manufacturer overcapacity drives down margins; Sector's maturation recalls early days of auto industry; Huge gains for solar and investment surge in US drive global growth in 2011[/font]

[font size=3]Nairobi, 11 June 2012 - Solar generation surged past wind power to become the renewable energy technology of choice for global investors in 2011.

Solar attracted nearly twice as much investment as wind, driving the renewable energy sector to yet another record-breaking year, albeit one beset with challenges for the industry, according to two new reports on renewable energy trends issued today by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century (REN21).

Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment 2012 is the fifth edition of the UNEP report, based on data from Bloomberg New Energy Finance, and has become the standard reference for global clean energy investment figures.

This year it shows that despite an increasingly tough competitive landscape for manufacturers, total investment in renewable power and fuels last year increased by 17% to a record $257 billion, a six-fold increase on the 2004 figure and 94% higher than the total in 2007, the year before the world financial crisis.

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