Bloomberg: Transition investments equaled fossil spending in 2022

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.

But 2022 was also a milestone in another sense — as the first year when investment in decarbonizing energy surpassed $1 trillion. The  year-on-year increase of more than $250 billion from 2021 was the largest jump yet.

Renewable energy and electrified transport reaped most of those dollars. Those sectors were buoyed by soaring installations of wind and solar — with more than 350 gigawatts of assets built — and sales of 10-million-plus electric vehicles globally.

Although renewable energy saw record investment in 2022, electrified transport is growing at a faster rate. Passenger EVs account for the bulk of the transport dollars invested ($380 billion) but by no means all of that sector’s capital flow last year. Public charging infrastructure saw an influx of $24 billion, while nearly $23 billion was spent on electric 2- and 3-wheelers. 

[Nathaniel Bullard]

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