Global Energy Investments:
Fossil Fuels Investments vs Clean Energy Investments (USD$ billions)
According to International Energy Agency (IEA) data, the world invested more than US$ 2 trillion in clean energy last year, almost twice as much as it did in fossil fuels. This pushed total energy investment above US$ 3 trillion.
The investment in clean energy and infrastructure has accelerated since 2020, and spending on renewable power, grids and storage is now higher than total spending on oil, gas, and coal. The majority of the clean energy investments came from new renewable energy projects, but there have also been investments into areas such as grid upgrades, battery storage, nuclear, low carbon fuels and electric vehicles, which the IEA includes as clean energy investments in its calculations.
Power sector investment in solar photovoltaic (PV) technology exceeded USD 500 billion, surpassing all other generation sources combined. Solar panel costs have decreased by 30% over the last two years, returning to the long-term downward trend after a period of increasing prices in the aftermath of the global pandemic and supply chain disruptions. Prices for minerals and metals crucial for energy transitions have also sharply dropped, especially the metals required for batteries. Solar remains central to the power sector’s transformation. In 2023, each dollar invested in wind and solar PV yielded 2.5 times more energy output than a dollar spent on the same technologies a decade prior.
As solar projects increased so too did investment in grid storage which made up about 20% of energy investment last year. Energy efficiency investment has been growing since 2020 and in 2024 there was US$ 669 billion in investments.
While this trend is encouraging, markets for clean energy technology have been uncertain in 2025. Shifting policy positions by major governments and uncertainty over economic growth, trade and supply chains has dampened excitement in the industry.
What is clear is that while capital investments in fossil fuels have been on a downward trend in the past decade, energy investment as a whole is significantly higher than it was in 2015. This highlights the ever-increasing global demand for energy.