Despite the slumping economy, the so-called “clean tech” sector—including solar photovoltaics, wind power and biofuels—continued to grow by leaps and bounds in 2008. According to the research and consulting firm Clean Edge, revenue sector-wide grew by 53 percent from $75.8 billion in 2007 to $115.9 billion in 2008.

While 2009 promises to be challenging for the sector, given credit constraints that have slowed or reversed plans for new manufacturing facilities and development projects, Clean Edge predicts strong growth down the road, anticipating annual revenues topping $325 billion within a decade.

“The clean-energy sector, like the broader economy, faces many challenges,” said Clean Edge’s Ron Pernick. “But while 2009 will be a difficult year, we believe that clean energy will play a central role in any global economic recovery.”

Wind power became the first clean-energy sector to surpass the $50 billion mark. Its $51.4 billion in worldwide revenue in 2008 is expected to grow to $139.1 billion in 2018. Last year’s global wind power installations reached a record 27,000 MW, including more than 8,000 MW in the U.S., pushing the U.S. ahead of Germany as the world’s leading generator of wind energy.

Solar PV (including modules, system components, and installation) totaled $29.6 billion last year and will reach $80.6 billion globally by 2018. Annual solar PV installations reached more than 4 GW worldwide in 2008, a fourfold increase from four years earlier, when the solar PV market reached the gigawatt milestone for the first time.

New global investments in energy technologies — including venture capital, project finance, public markets, and research and development — expanded by 4.7 percent, from $148.4 billion in 2007 to $155.4 billion in 2008, according to research firm and Clean Energy Trends content provider New Energy Finance.

For the first time, their report examines the “green jobs dividend.” Solar PV and wind power provided more than 600,000 direct and indirect jobs globally in 2008 and are expected to generate 2.7 million jobs by 2018.

This year's report includes an analysis of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, signed into law by President Obama in February and providing $70 billion in direct spending and tax credits for clean-energy and transportation programs.

In Oregon, state and city officials have also made investing in green jobs training a centerpiece of their economic growth strategies.

A recent addition to the Obama administration is the Green Job for All President Van Jones.  If you want to listen to an interview on the radio show, A World of Possibilities, go to http://www.aworldofpossibilities.com/details.cfm?id=349.  You can hear this radio show on the community radio station CJTR 91.3 FM on Mondays 9 am or Thursdays 11 am.

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