Clean Energy Revenue to Triple by 2017

Revenue from clean energy including wind, solar, geothermal and biofuels will more than triple during the next year according to a report from clean energy consultants Clean Edge.

The total clean energy market will rise from $77 billion to more than $254 billion by 2017, according to "Clean Energy Trends 2008." Clean energy revenue grew by more than 40 percent during the last year alone.

Even though it is the most cost-effective renewable energy technology today, wind power will not grow as fast as solar or biofuels, according to Clean Edge. The wind industry was more than 9 times the size of the solar industry in 2007.

Clean energy investments as a percentage of the total capital invested has risen from less than 1 percent in 2000 to 9.1 percent in 2007, or a total investment of more than $2.7 billion. . Between 2006 and 2007, venture investments in the U.S. clean-energy sector increased by more than 70 percent.

Clean Edge identified five clean technology trends for the upcoming year:

Start-ups power the electric car

Sustainable cities sprout from the ground up

Overseas players power U.S. wind market boom

Geothermal resurfaces as a growth sector

Oceangoing shipping takes a cleaner tack

The full report can be downloaded for free here