China tops global clean energy table

China remains the world’s leading investor in low-carbon energy technology, a global study has shown.

The table, published by the US Pew Environment Group, showed that the Chinese invested $54.4bn (£34.1bn) in 2010, up from $39.1bn in 2009.

While the US saw investment increase by 51% to $34bn, it still slipped from 2nd to 3rd in the ranking, behind Germany’s $41.2bn.

However, the UK slipped outside the top 10 as investment fell by 70% in 2010.

Globally, the sector - which does not include nuclear power - attracted $243bn of investment, a 30% increase from 2009 and a whopping 630% rise since 2004.

The authors also said that 40 gigawatts (GW) of wind and 17GW of solar energy were installed during 2010, taking the global clean power capacity to 388GW.

The report Who’s Winning the Clean Energy Race, using data compiled by Bloomberg New Energy Finance, examined the clean energy sector’s investment and technological trends in the G20 leading economies.

“Looking at global trends, the solar sector experiences the strongest growth among the various technologies,” observed Michael Liebreich, chief executive of Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

“Declining prices and generous government support in key countries helped the solar sector achieve 40% of total clean energy investment in 2010,” he added.

The report outlined that as well as attracting the most investment, China was also the world’s leading producer of wind turbines and solar energy units.

The authors also pointed out that the country in 2009 overtook the US as the nation with the most installed clean energy capacity.

In terms of year-on-year growth, Argentina topped the rankings as it saw investment grow by 568% in 2010 compared with 2009.

Regionally, Europe remained the largest recipient of investment, attracting $94.4bn of investment. Asia/Oceania was the second most attractive region for investors, securing $82.2bn.

Explaining the UK’s slip in the rankings, Liebreich suggested that it was a result of “policy uncertainty during a substantial part of the year”.

In May, the UK general election resulted in a coalition government involving the Conservative Party and the Liberal Democrats.

-BBC