Global investment in renewable energy capacity hit $237 billion in 2011, outpacing the $223 billion invested in new fossil fuel capacity globally, according to new data prepared by Bloomberg New Energy Finance for Vestas.
Moves by corporations to invest in renewable energy has the support of consumers as well, says a company data set – the Global Consumer Wind Study – also collected for Vestas and published as part of its Energy Transparency 2012 effort. Breaking Energy has partnered with Vestas on the Energy Transparency campaign as well. Read more about it here.
The GCWS and the Corporate Renewable Energy Index (CREX) data were released today at a London event at Bloomberg’s offices there.
Roughly 40% of renewable electricity purchases by companies have been in on-site generation, a trend that sits with an increased interest among large energy consumers in distributed generation. Vestas, in releasing the CREX and GCWS global data, noted that “the voluntary procurement of renewable energy has grown in recent years, and this is set to continue, but the pace of growth will depend on political and regulatory support.”
The GCWS was complied by TNS Gallup, and focuses on the responses of 24,000 consumers in 20 countries to questions about their demand for products made with renewable energy, consumers’ preferences regarding energy, and how energy decisions by a selected group of large companies affect consumer choices.
For insight into the top GCWS results from Brazil and the UK, check out and download Breaking Energy infographics here and here.
“The evidence presented by the surveys is extremely encouraging, clearly showing that consumers are demanding more renewable energy in the grid and are showing a willingness to pay a premium price for products made with renewable energy,” Vestas Group Senior Vice President of Marketing, Communication and Corporate Relations Morten Albaek said in releasing the results.
For more detail, read more on Breaking Energy’s Energy Transparency hub. The GCWS and the CREX can be downloaded here.
Vestas and Bloomberg will also release results in New York on September 24. Find out more about that event here.
This piece appears on Breaking Energy as part of the Energy Transparency series in partnership with Vestas.
