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Clean Energy Sets $1.1 Trillion Record That’s Bound to Be Broken

It was a banner year for money spent on solar and wind projects, EVs and more in 2022. The way things are going, that level of investment will quickly be eclipsed. 

Turbines at a wind farm in Rio Vista, California.

Turbines at a wind farm in Rio Vista, California.

Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

Last year was a double milestone for decarbonizing the world’s energy system. It was the first year when investment in the energy transition equaled global investment in fossil fuels, according to the latest data release from  clean energy research group BloombergNEF.

The money flowing into the upstream, midstream and downstream segments of oil and gas, and into fossil fuel-fired power generation without emissions reduction technology, was $1.1 trillion last year. Likewise, annual investment in renewable energy, electrified transport and heat, energy storage and other technologies reached $1.1 trillion.