Who's winning the clean energy race? 2012

Although 2012 investment levels worldwide declined 11 percent, to $269 billion, from 2011, the clean energy sector weathered the withdrawal of priority incentives and initiatives offered by governments in numerous key markets, demonstrating its resilience. Reliable clean energy investment data have been collected for nine years now. Looking at the data in three-year increments, average clean energy investment increased by at least $90 billion triennially - from an average of $64 billion in the 2004-06 period to an average of $156 billion in 2007-09 and $245 billion in 2010-12

China is now the global leader in clean energy investment. The US is the world leader in biofuel investments with $1.5bn invested in 2012. However, globally, investment in biofuels fell 47% between 2011 and 2012.