U.S. clean energy investments 2004-2022

The United States’ investment in clean energy reached its highest point in 2022 at 141 billion U.S. dollars. This represents a substantial increase since 2004, when investment totaled roughly 10 billion U.S.

Changes in investment level

While clean energy investment has risen drastically over the past twenty years, its growth has not always been consistent. Investment dropped after 2008 in the wake of the financial crisis, before climbing to a new peak in 2011, then decreasing again for a few years. Significant fluctuations in the energy market as a whole played a part in wavering investments during the turbulent years following the global recession.

Unstable fossil fuel prices

In addition to environmental concerns, the volatility of oil markets in recent years have contributed to rising interest and investment in renewables. In response to swelling international oil prices during the 2008 financial crisis, investors sought to develop both renewables as well as new technologies to domestically extract fossil fuels, such as hydraulic fracturing. A surplus of shale oil and natural gas followed and led to the further destabilization of the U.S. energy market, known as the 2010s oil glut.