Renewable Energy Growing

Global renewable energy markets have grown tremendously in the past decade. Few people realize that some forms of renewable energy have become big business. Annual investment in renewable energy was an estimated $17 billion worldwide in 2002, up from $6 billion in 1995. Cumulative investment of at least $80 billion was made in renewable energy during the period 1995-2002, far surpassing investment in the decade prior to 1995. This growth has been driven first and foremost by supportive national and local policies, many of which have effectively overcome the barriers that continue to put renewable energy at a competitive disadvantage to fossil fuels.

-Technology improvements and cost reductions,
- Better market information,
- Growing awareness of global climate change,
- Local environmental concerns,
and
- Rural development needs in the countries
have also been important drivers of this growth.

The fastest growing renewable energy markets are for wind power and solar photovoltaics in a handful of developed countries, notably Japan, Germany, and Spain, with a recent resurgence in the United States. These markets have seen annual growth rates of 15-40% in recent years. Solar hot water markets in a few countries have been growing equally rapidly, with more modest investments in geothermal, small hydro, and biomass. Overall, technology shares for the $17 billion total invested in 2002 are estimated at wind 42%, solar photovoltaics 22%, solar hot water 17%, geothermal heat production 8%, small hydro power generation 6%, biomass power generation 2%, and geothermal power generation 2%.


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