Non-hydro renewables will account for the majority of new power capacity added by 2030 worldwide, according to new research by analysts at Bloomberg New Energy Finance.  Despite current difficult market conditions, Bloomberg New Energy Finance also projects a 230% jump in investment in clean energy assets (including power, biofuels, and heat) to $630bn per year by 2030.

Renewables 100 Policy Institute, World Future Council and World Wind Energy Association are among the groups behind a new push to promote a global shift to 100% clean energy.

Clean energy continued to gain ground in the global energy mix in 2012, according to the latest edition of Who's Winning the Clean Energy Race. While global investment in clean energy dropped 11% to $269 billion, there was record installation of new clean energy generating capacity worldwide, driven in part by significant declines in technology prices. Globally, 88 gigawatts (GW) of new clean energy generating capacity was added, and by the end of 2012, 648 GW was in place globally (Figure 1). Notably, clean energy markets in smaller countries increased by 52% to more than $20 billion. This trend is likely to continue: Bloomberg New Energy Finance projects continued annual growth for clean energy of 10 to 18 percent in developing markets, including Latin America, through 2020.

In the Americas, the data shows investment volatility as well as the growth of emerging Latin American markets. The report found that investment fell in the Americas overall, with clean energy financing down 31 percent in 2012, to $50.3 billion. However, this decline followed growth of more than 30 percent in 2011, illustrating a pattern of investment volatility in the region. The top 10 countries in global clean energy investment included the United States at $35.6 billion (#2 rank) and Brazil at $5.3 billion (#10 rank). Investment in Argentina and Mexico grew by 63% and 548% respectively.

The Americas region is expected to add nearly 92GW of new wind power capacity from 2013 to 2020, but the rate of growth will differ dramatically between North America and Latin America, according to a new report by MAKE Consulting. "The real opportunity over the next eight years will be in Latin America," states the report. MAKE forecasts a 20 percent compounded annual growth rate in Latin America and projects that, for the first time, the majority of new wind capacity in the Americas will occur outside of the U.S. market. The report also projects that the U.S. and Brazil markets will together account for over 26GW of installations in 2013-2016, with a bubble year expected in 2014.