This is an excellent overview article written by Max Rutherford, Editor of BioFuels Watch.com. It is worth noting that investment in green energy went up 2% in Europe last year, and down 8% in the US:
There is no question that green energy is a coming force. Economic and environmental necessity have pushed such sources of energy to the very forefront of public, corporate and governmental concern, making such energies the growing and coming sector. In fact, during 2008 and 2009, green energy overtook fossil fuels in terms of power generating investment attraction-the first time that this has ever happened. Clean technologies, 
including wind and solar, drew more than $140bn of investment during this period, compared to $110bn for coal and gas meant for electrical power generation. More than one-third of this ‘green money’ ended up in Britain and the rest of Europe.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, given their starting points, the largest growth in renewable energy investments were seen in India and China-along with several other developing countries, as they look to match the West by switching from fossil fuels in order to improve energy security and address issues relating to climate change, which will directly and immediately impact developing world countries.
The Executive Director of the UN’s Environment Program, Ache Steiner, has postulated that such indicators suggest that a tipping point has been reached, where renewable energy is perhaps even more important than fossil fuels in the global energy mix. It is indeed encouraging that, up to the end of 2009, a wide variety of renewable energy sectors have attracted significant capital, and many different regions are entering the sector in a serious way. Up to the end of 2009, more than $155bn of new money had been invested in clean energy concerns and projects-despite the fact that the capital raised on public stock markets dropped by 51% to $11.4bn. Over this period, green firms also saw share prices drop dramatically by over 60%.
Wind energy is the current global leader of green energy sources, attracted the highest levels of investment globally at over $51bn. Next comes solar power at over $33bn. As of the end of 2009, however, the solar power sector saw Y-O-Y growth of 50%, whereas wind power only saw an annual growth of 1%. The next most-popular green energy source is biofuels, attracted an investment of almost $17bn, down 9% on 2007 levels. This was principally due to overcapacity issues and political opposition to the sector, with ethanol being squarely blamed for rocketing food prices.
Europe remains the principal center for investment in green energy and power, seeing over $50bn directed into continent-wide projects-an increase of 2% on 2008 figures. The figure for the US was $30bn-down a total of 8%.
Many countries have seen a number of “Green New Deals”, designed with the intention of re-igniting recession-depressed economies and tackle climate change-related problems. The first quarter of 2009 saw a slump in renewable investment globally, and this trend has troubled the UN. The second quarter of 2009 has shown recovery, but indications are that the year would end at least a quarter down on 2008 figures. Many analysts are encouraged by the green shoots, but insist that politicians and policy-makers should do more to ensure continued growth.
