Clean energy growth, falling prices part of U.S. energy economy transformation
February 26, 2015 | By
Barbara Vergetis Lundin
Investment in U.S. clean energy reached $51.8 billion in 2014, 7 percent above 2013 levels and five times more than a decade ago, according to the Business Council for Sustainable Energy (BCSE) commissioned Sustainable Energy in America Factbook, marking a clear transformation of the U.S. energy economy. "The U.S. energy economy is transforming. In bringing the Factbook to Wall Street, the 'facts' demonstrate that our industries are now mainstream industries in the U.S. economy and we want to work with investors to evolve and deepen this transformation," said Lisa Jacobson, president of the Business Council for Sustainable Energy. The Factbook, researched and written by Bloomberg New Energy Finance highlights advances in energy efficiency and renewable energy. "The Factbook clearly shows significant and steady increases over the last decade in the adoption of energy efficiency policies, investments in energy efficiency programs and projects, and the amount of Energy Star certified buildings," said Mark Wagner, vice president, Government Relations, Johnson Controls. "These factors all help to contribute to another interesting fact in the book: Annualized electricity demand growth from 2007-2014 has been zero." On the renewables side, the U.S. economy has been infused with more than $100 billion from the wind industry since 2008. "…leading U.S. companies are investing in wind too. Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Walmart, Yahoo! and Amazon have chosen to invest in wind because it's a good deal," said Rob Gramlich, senior vice president, Government and Public Affairs, American Wind Energy Association (AWEA). "Clean, affordable wind power offers long-term, fixed-rate contracts that provide these companies with the kind of certainty and reliability they need to run an efficient business." For more: © 2015 FierceMarkets, a division of Questex Media Group LLC. All rights reserved. |