A new report says US$367 billion was invested in renewable energy a year ago.
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But Canada experienced a 46 per cent drop in investment, from US$7.4 to US$4 billion in 2014.
About $218 billion went toward solar energy and about $150 billion was spent on wind power, the two largest types of investment.
Clean Energy Canada, which works to accelerate the transition to renewable energy, said an unprecedented US$367 billion was invested globally in renewable power in 2015, and the Paris commitments will boost its momentum.
The Clean Energy Collective – one of the top community solar energy providers in the United States – has come to terms with Xcel Energy concerning the utility company’s community solar gardens program in Colorado.
Clean Energy Canada’s executive director Merran Smith said: “A third of a trillion dollars was invested in renewable power in 2015 – that’s serious money, and it set a new record for global clean energy investment, even in the face of stiff competition from cheap fossil fuels”.
The list of countries and regions that increased spending on renewable energy is long.
“The cost of producing clean energy keeps dropping, and the fuel – sun, wind, water – is free”, adds Smith. This is despite the unsubsidised cost of wind energy falling by 61% since 2009 as well as solar array costs falling by 82%.
“Clean energy is taking off around the world and in the countries that we consider our markets”, she said.
A record £265bn was invested in renewables worldwide previous year, greater than the amount invested in new fossil fuel power plants.
The group says clean energy costs are coming down as production and experience increase.
Investment is increasing in Middle East and African nations.
The sale of renewable energy credits has created a pretty unbelievable headline out of Vermont: Consumers there are using no renewable energy, “partly due to flawed renewable energy policies”, according to the new report from Vermont Law School. It is second only to Iceland in the OECD.
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By way of incentive, Jaitley has reduced excise duty on carbon pultrusions used for manufacture of rotor blades, and intermediates, parts and sub-parts of rotor blades for wind operated electricity generators, to 6 percent from 12.5 percent.
