Report Predicts Huge Growth in Clean Energy Technologies

March 23, 2005

Prepare yourself for a boom in clean energy technologies: Markets for solar energy, wind energy, and fuel cells are poised to grow from $16 billion in global revenues in 2004 to more than $100 billion by 2014, according to a report released on March 22nd by Clean Edge, Inc., an energy research and publishing firm. Clean Edge projects that over the next ten years, markets for solar photovoltaic devices will grow from $7.2 billion to $39.2 billion; wind power installations will expand from $8 billion to $48.1 billion; and fuel cells and distributed hydrogen will grow from $900 million to $15.1 billion. See the Clean Edge report, "Clean-Energy Trends 2005".

Another indicator of the burgeoning clean energy industry is the growth of key conferences. The POWER-GEN Renewable Energy conference, held early in March, experienced a 100-percent growth in exhibitors and a 60-percent growth in attendees, according to the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE), a major sponsor. See the ACORE press release (PDF 51 KB). Download Acrobat Reader.

The POWER-GEN conference essentially kicks off the 2005 conference season, as many major renewable energy conferences are coming up soon. March 23rd is the start of Globalcon 2005, a conference in Atlantic City, New Jersey, sponsored by the Association of Energy Engineers and featuring themes of energy efficiency and renewable energy. On March 29th, the National Hydrogen Association (NHA) brings its Annual Hydrogen Conference to Washington, D.C., accompanied by the NHA's Hydrogen Financing Forum and the Hydrogen Expo USA. On May 1st, the 11th Annual Clean Cities Conference and Exposition gets underway in Palm Springs, California, while the International Conference on Solar Concentrators for the Generation of Electricity or Hydrogen begins in Scottsdale, Arizona. On May 4th, the Third Annual Greening Rooftops Conference kicks off in Washington, D.C. In mid-May, the Windpower 2005 Conference and Exhibition comes to Denver, Colorado. Finally, for the international travelers, the World Renewable Energy Congress 2005 launches on May 22nd in Aberdeen, Scotland, accompanied on May 25th by the Renewable Power Association's Wave and Tidal Technology Symposium (WATTS).