Clean tech revenues to surpass £200bn

Despite the rough ride that may clean tech companies have faced over recent months, market analysts are predicting healthy growth over the next decade.

In its Clean Energy Trends 2009 report, released this week, research company Clean Edge claims that by 2018 wind power, solar photovoltaics (PV) and biofuels will have revenues of $325.1bn (£237bn).

The researchers admit that 2009 will be a "challenging year" for the clean-energy industry, due to credit constraints affecting development and investment, but the mid to long-term outlook is more positive, the group claims.

"The clean-energy sector, like the broader economy, faces many challenges," said Clean Edge co-founder and managing director Ron Pernick. "But while 2009 will be a difficult year, we believe that clean energy will play a central role in any global economic recovery."

Addressing each sub-sector of clean tech in turn, the researchers claimed that production and wholesale pricing of biofuels reached $34.8bn in 2008 and are projected to total $105.4bn by 2018.

Wind power created $51.4bn in worldwide revenue in 2008 and is expected to grow to $139.1bn in 2018, according to Clean Edge. "Last year’s global wind power installations reached a record 27,000MW, including more than 8,000MW in the US, pushing the US ahead of Germany as the world’s leading generator of wind energy," the report stated.

As for solar energy, the researchers claimed modules, system components, and installation totaled $29.6bn last year and could reach $80.6bn globally by 2018. "Annual solar PV installations reached more than 4GW worldwide in 2008, a fourfold increase from four years earlier, when the solar PV market reached the gigawatt milestone for the first time," the report stated.

The report also includes analysis of the impact of the US stimulus package on the clean tech industry. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 was signed into law by president Obama in February and should provide up to $70bn in direct spending and tax credits for clean-energy and transportation projects.

The US administration has alluded to the job creation associated with investment in renewable energy. According to Clean Edge, solar and wind power projects created more than 600,000 direct and indirect jobs globally in 2008 and are expected to generate 2.7m jobs by 2018.