Matt Montalbano, Zondits guest, 2/8/2023
Global investments in low-carbon energy technology topped $1 trillion for the first time in 2022 and equaled global investments in fossil fuels. A recently published report by Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BloombergNEF) calculates the total investment in clean energy in 2022 to be a record-breaking $1.1 trillion.
“Our findings put to bed any debate about how the energy crisis will impact clean energy deployment,” says the Head of Global Analysis at BloombergNEF, Albert Cheung. “Rather than slowing down, energy transition investment has surged to a new record as countries and businesses continue to execute on transition plans. Investment in clean energy technologies is on the brink of overtaking fossil fuel investments, and won’t look back.”
Given the energy crisis that gripped parts of the world in 2022, some analysts rushed out expectations that clean energy investments would stall and that rising oil and gas prices would eat up investment dollars. Fossil fuel investments did increase last year, however, that happened simultaneously with a boom in global clean energy investments.
The money invested in the clean energy industry comprised of financings for renewable energy projects, such as wind and solar, as well as financing into nuclear, energy storage, electric vehicles, heat pumps, carbon capture and storage, hydrogen, and advanced technology research. Hydrogen investments were the fastest-growing sector, more than tripling investments from the prior year, but remained the smallest sector at 0.1% of the total value. Nuclear energy was the only sector that failed to set an all-time high for annual investments.
According to the report, China was the leading country for attracting energy transition investments by bringing in over three times as much money as the United States or the European Union. The $1.1 trillion global investment discussed in the report doesn’t include an additional $472 billion spent on power grids, manufacturing, and equity financing raised by clean-tech companies. China also leads the investments in manufacturing facilities of clean energy technologies with a 91% share. The United States has announced future investments into manufacturing sites with major investments in clean energy funding coming through both the Federal Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act.
Read more from BloombergNEF: Global Low-Carbon Energy Technology Investment Surges Past $1 Trillion for the First Time