Global investment in the renewable energy sector fell by 14% in 2013, the BBC reports, citing a study by the United Nations Environment Programme (Unep) and Bloomberg New Energy Finance. The report attributes the fall in investments to technology getting cheaper and energy policy remaining foggy, making the fate of such investments uncertain.
While cheaper technology does bring renewable energy closer to achieving competitive prices, ironically, experts believe it could be causing the policy confusion which has shrank investment in the sector. The BBC quotes Unep?s Eric Usher as saying that the technology getting cheaper, particularly for solar power, had prompted some governments to wonder if they were paying too much and caused subsequent review of the subsidies being granted by them to the sector. Usher noted the few silver linings?Germany has been able to adapt to cheaper technologies quite fast, while renewables in Latin American countries have broken free of government subsidies and China installed more renewables-driven capacity than fossil-fuel driven ones?but said that other nations haven?t handled the development well, thereby ?causing nervousness among investors?. However, the picture is not entirely bleak despite the fall in investment, renewables? share increased to 8.5% of the total electricity produced in 2013, up from 7.8% in 2012.