China retook its top spot as global leader in the clean energy race, attracting nearly twice the green energy investment dollars last year as the United States did. Investors plowed $65 billion into Chinese wind farms, solar panel arrays and other clean energy projects in 2012, a 20% increase over the year prior, according to a report released Wednesday by Pew Charitable Trusts and Bloomberg New Energy Finance.
The numbers reflect only private investments in power projects, and do not include government subsidies or R&D money. China's total made it the world's top destination for green energy investments in 2012, a position it held in 2009 and 2010 but lost to the United States in 2011. In the United States, green energy investments last year plummeted 37% to $35.6 billion, although the country still came in second worldwide.
