The entire capital invested in the production of solar battery as well as research and promotion activities exceeded USD 100 billion in 2007. The investment in the construction of power plants using wind-force, solar energy power and other sources of renewable energy saw an upsurge from USD 40 billion in 2005 to USD 55 billion in 2006.
Renewable energy accounted for 3.4% of the total world power output in 2006, approximately one-fourth of the entire nuclear power output in the world. The renewable energy output is expected to continue to rise in the next coming years while the nuclear power output appears to stay the same.
In 2007, Germany was ranked at the first place among the countries that had the largest investment in renewable energy with USD 14 billion and followed by China with USD 12.9 billion and the United States with USD 10 billion. The investment in wind-force power plants constituted the largest share with 47% while the investment in solar energy power plants made up 30%.
In 2006, China was at the top in terms of renewable energy output with 52 million kWh, which was followed by Germany, the United States, Spain and Japan. As said by Dr. Eric Martinot, renewable energy resources like wind, solar energy, geothermal power and small-scaled hydropower will help nations upgrade the energy security and stimulus the economic development. Renewable energy has brought about 2.4 million jobs all over the world and has doubled the power generation to 240 GW since 2004. Currently, more than 65 countries are setting their national objectives of spurring the progress of renewable energy and enacting long-term policies to support these objectives.
Mai Phuong