Global investment in clean tech reached a record-high $2.3 trillion last year, according to an analysis. Investment grew even in the U.S., despite a sweeping rollback of government support for clean energy.
Last year, investors poured $893 billion into electric vehicles, $690 billion into renewable power, and $483 billion into power grids, with additional funding going to heat pumps, battery storage, nuclear power, and other technologies that promise to curb demand for fossil fuels, according to a new report from BloombergNEF.
China remains the global leader in clean energy investment, though it saw a drop in funding for renewable power last year as new regulations came into force that slowed the buildout of wind and solar. Investment in India grew by 15 percent, and in Europe by 18 percent. In the U.S., investment climbed by just 3.5 percent amid a gutting of federal support for clean energy under President Trump.
While the shift to clean energy may be unstoppable, the analysis showed that it can be slowed. Before Trump returned to office, EVs were projected to reach nearly half of U.S. car sales by the end of this decade. Now, they are on course for roughly a third, according to BNEF.
Analysts warn of another trend that threatens to slow the shift to clean energy. While China currently dominates the manufacturing of solar, batteries, and EVs, manufacturing investment is growing in the U.S. and the E.U., where governments are looking to protect fledgling industries by imposing tariffs on Chinese imports.
Albert Cheung, a lead analyst at BNEF, warned that, with tariffs, Western leaders are driving up the cost of the shift to clean energy. Rather than blocking affordable imports from China, he said, governments should be “looking for other investment opportunities where their countries may possess competitive advantage.”
ALSO ON YALE E360
In Hunt for Rare Earths, Companies Are Scouring Mining Waste
