The World Economic Forum (WEF) has released the Green Investing: Towards a Clean Energy Infrastructure report, which says that at least $515 billion per annum needs to be invested in clean energy between now and 2030.

New Energy Finance, which collaborated with the WEF on the report, warns that unless at least $515 billion per annum is invested in clean energy between now and 2030, carbon emissions will reach a level deemed unsustainable by scientists, causing temperatures to rise by two degrees globally.

The report identifies eight emerging, large-scale clean energy sectors that are expected to significantly contribute in the move to a clean energy infrastructure of the future: onshore wind, offshore wind, solar photovoltaic, solar thermal electricity generation, municipal solar waste-to-energy, sugar-based ethanol, cellulosic and next generation biofuels, and geothermal power.

The report’s authors, Max von Bismarck and Anuradha Gurung from the WEF, and Chris Greenwood and Michael Liebreich from New Energy Finance, argue that “enormous investment in energy infrastructure is required to address the twin threats of energy insecurity and climate change. In light of the global financial crisis, it is crucial that every dollar is made to ‘multi-task’ to create a sustainable low-carbon economy.”

Clean energy opportunities have the potential to generate significant economic returns.

The report shows that even after a tumultuous 2008, an index of the world’s 90 leading clean energy companies had a five-year compounded annualised return of almost 10 per cent, unmatched by the world’s major stock indices.

A statement issued in Davos suggests using some of the money available from fiscal stimulus packages to invest in activities that can provide jobs as well as create low emission options.-TradeArabia News Service