California top recipient of clean tech investments in North America

California was the top recipient of clean tech investments in North America during the second quarter this year, a research firm said Friday.

Clean tech venture investments in North America, Europe, China and India totaled 2.02 billion dollars over the period, said a statement from the Cleantech Group, a provider of market research and advisory services for the clean tech industry.

Of that, California received 980 million dollars, more than two-thirds of North America's total, it said.

"In spite of the persistence of wider concerns about the strength and sustainability of the global recovery, the strong flow of investment dollars to clean tech growth companies has continued in the second quarter of 2010, with clean tech venture investment in the first half of 2010 edging slightly ahead of the record total recorded during the first half of 2008 (4.04 billion dollars versus 4.02 billion dollars)," said Richard Youngman, head of global research at the Cleantech Group.

In North America, Europe, China and India as a whole, the leading segment of the clean tech sector over the second quarter in terms of investment received was solar (811 million dollars), followed by biofuels (302 million dollars) and smart grid (256 million dollars), the statement said.

Energy efficiency was the top segment measured by number of deals, with 31 funding rounds, ahead of solar (26 deals) and biofuels (13 deals).

In response to the statement, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said the state "has led the world in enacting policies that harness the private sector to create the clean and renewable technologies needed to combat climate change and reduce our dependency on oil."

Source: Xinhua