New York  London  GMT  Tokyo  Singapore 
Tom Lydon

Clean Energy ETFs: Why Investors Are Pouring In

By Tom Lydon on June 5, 2009 | More Posts By Tom Lydon | Author's Website

Clean energy is in and fossil fuels are out, according to the patterns that are showing up within investors’ inflows and in related exchange traded funds (ETFs).

Around $250 billion was spent for new power capacity in 2008 and for the first time, the majority of the money went toward clean energy, a report by the United Nations Environment Program has found. According to James Katner for The New York Times, renewable sources accounted for 56% of investment dollars globally, worth $140 billion, while investment in fossil fuel technologies was $110 billion.

Much of the fossil fuel spending centered on new coal plants in China. Large hydropower projects, wind, solar and geothermal were covered by the report. Power plants generally have along life span, so it will be some time until renewable energy dominates the power grid. Right now, renewable energy accounts for about 6.2% of the total power sector capacity in 2008, which means there’s a lot of room left for growth.

The largest stimulus to green energy could be an agreement among nations at a meeting in Copenhagen in Denmark in December, aimed at creating a successor treaty to the Kyoto Protocol.

  • PowerShares WilderHill Clean Energy (PBW): up 19.3% year-to-date

  • PowerShares Global Clean Energy (PBD): up 21.6% year-to-date

  • First Trust NASDAQ Clean Edge Green Energy (QCLN): up 24.2% year-to-date
    • iShares S&P Global Clean Energy Index (ICLN): up 11.6% year-to-date

  • If you like this article please...
    Subscribe by RSS Subscribe by Email Email This Post To A Friend Email This Post To A Friend

    Leave A Comment :

    Name (required)
    E-mail (required - never shown publicly)
    URI
    Subscribe to comments via email
    Your Comment (smaller size | larger size)
    You may use <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong> in your comment.
    Opinions From Our Contributors
    Commodities Financials Exchange Traded Funds
    Stocks Forex Economy



    HEADLINES
    UPCOMING EVENTS
    In 1 day: NZD Visitor Arrivals (OCT)
    In 1 day: AUD New Motor Vehicle Sales (MoM) (OCT)
    In 1 day: AUD New Motor Vehicle Sales (YoY) (OCT)
    In 1 day: JPY Supermarket Sales (YoY) (OCT)
    In 2 days: CHF Money Supply M3 (YoY) (OCT)
    Enter Your Email Address
    Theme By: WordPress Theme Shop