Investment in clean-tech companies rose 44 percent from 2005 to 2006, and jumped an additional 44 percent from 2006 to 2007, soaring to $5.18 billion, according to the Cleantech Group LLC. Last year in clean-tech, energy generation received $2.75 billion in investment, followed by energy storage ($471 million) and transportation ($445 million). And you know what that means: “More new car companies were financed in the last 12 months than probably in the last 50 or 60 years,” says the Cleantech Group’s John Balbach. Um … great? In related news, U.S. wind power grew by 45 percent last year, boosted by federal and state energy policies and green-energy incentives. The American Wind Energy Association predicts that wind could provide 20 percent of U.S. power by 2020. Let it never be said that they don’t have ambition.
