U.S. Loses Ground In Clean-Energy Investments

The United States fell behind China and Germany in clean energy investments in 2010, a result of the lack of a coherent national energy policy in the U.S., according to a report by the Pew Charitable Trusts. China invested $54 billion in clean energy projects in 2010, Germany invested $41 billion, and the U.S. invested $34 billion, according to the Pew report, “Who’s Winning the Clean Energy Race?” A key reason that the U.S. slipped from second place in 2009 to third place in 2010 is that China and Germany have comprehensive policies that encourage renewable energy development, such as renewable portfolio standards requiring that a certain portion of electricity generation come from renewable sources, Pew said. The U.S. did lead the world last year in investments in energy efficiency, spending $3.3 billion on efficiency projects. The U.S. also led in venture capital and private equity investments in clean energy, although a sizeable portion of those investments went to green projects in China and other nations outside the U.S.