Cleantech to reach $17B

Investment opportunities in clean energy technology ventures are expected to reach $17 billion around the world through 2009, according to an investment group, as more states in the United States pledge funds to support cleantech investments.

The Cleantech Venture Network predicts investments will amount to $10 billion in North America, $5 billion in Europe, and $2 billion for the rest of the world through 2009. Members of the Investor Network on Climate Risk said Thursday at the Cleantech Venture Forum in New York that they had allocated more than $1 billion of their assets to cleantech ventures over the past 18 months.

Among the most notable recent cleantech investments were Pennsylvania State Treasurer Robert P. Casey Jr.'s announcement last week that the state would pledge $90 million to a green investment strategy. That $90 million includes $40 million in a new Keystone Green Fund that will leverage private sector investments in cleantech products to help Pennsylvania's economy and another $50 million for investment managers who have a track record in cleantech stock investments.

California in the Lead

Pennsylvania thus joined California's two largest pension funds, CalPERS (California Public Employees Retirement System) and CalSTRS (California State Teachers Retirement System), with $700 million and $188 million respectively, along with funds from New York State and Oregon. The $700 million from CalPERS includes $500 million invested in environmentally screened stock portfolios in the U.S. and overseas, along with $200 million targeted at private equity stakes in businesses producing energy-efficient materials, photovoltaics, and other renewable energy technologies, especially in California. The New York State Retirement Fund committed $30 million to the Carlyle/Riverstone Renewable Energy Infrastructure Fund I, which has raised $600 million to invest in projects such as hydroelectric plants, wind systems, geothermal, and biomass facilities. The state treasurer's office in Oregon meanwhile has approved $50 million this year from the Oregon Investment Fund to invest in the First Reserve XI and Nth Power funds.

"Clean technology investing is smart money for the long term," Oregon State Treasurer Randall Edwards said in a statement. "When you invest in clean technology, it is first an investment for financial return, and it is also an investment in energy independence and an installment in our human responsibility to leave this world in a better condition than we found it."

Despite the burgeoning level of investment, though, the cleantech sector isn't paying off as handsomely as it once did, with cleantech shares already down more than 30 percent this year.

Cleantech developments making news in the past 24 hours

• Generating energy underwater from good vibrations
• Indian companies order 300MW in wind power
• Beijing meets "blue sky days" target early
• Finland, Vietnam launch fish fuel project

View the last week of cleantech developments here | Subscribe to full feed