Investment in clean energy falls

Global investment in clean energy fell to roughly US$46 billion to US$47 billion in the third quarter of this year as project finance for renewables stalled owing to policy uncertainty, overcapacity and cheap natural gas, two separate reports showed on Monday.

Investment in renewable energy and smart energy technologies totalled US$45.9 billion, 20 per cent below the same period last year and 14 per cent below the second quarter of this year, research by Bloomberg New Energy Finance showed.

The third-quarter fall makes it likely that new clean energy investment for the full year will be below last year’s US$281 billion, which was already 11 per cent below record levels of investment in 2011.

“US$45.9 billion is still a substantial amount of money, greater than that invested in the whole of 2004, but the loss of momentum since 2011 is worrying,” said Michael Liebreich, chief executive of Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

“The latest setback reflects policy uncertainty in Europe, the lure of cheap gas in the US, a levelling-off in wind and solar investment in China, and a general weakening of political will in major economies.”

The United States, which led a rise in global clean energy investment in the second quarter, posted a 41 per cent drop to US$5.5 billion in the third quarter. Europe, China, India and Japan also reduced their investment levels.