Chon Buri's green project helped by World Bank

Under the Thailand AEP Livestock Waste Management Project, the World Bank aims to promote the government's policy to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by utilising swine manure to generate electricity.

The project is expected to produce a combined 6,250 kilowatt-hours of electricity per day and reduce annual carbon-dioxide emissions by a combined 58,000 tonnes.

This emission reduction is marketable as carbon credits, which will then be purchased by the Community Development Carbon Fund, administered by the World Bank.

A UN Environment Programme (UNEP) study has shown that new investment in clean energy across the world last year topped US$148 billion (Bt5 trillion), a 60-per-cent increase from 2006, as renewables and energy efficiency attract fast-growing interest.

Growth continues this year on climate-change worries, growing support from world governments, rising oil prices and ongoing energy security concerns.

"The clean-energy industry is maturing and its backers remain bullish. These findings should empower governments - both North and South - to reach a deep and meaningful new agreement by the crucial climate convention meeting in Copenhagen in late 2009," said Achim Steiner, the head of the UNEP.

Last year, wind energy again attracted the most investment, at $50.2 billion, but solar power grew most rapidly, attracting some $28.6 billion of new capital and growing at an average annual rate of 254 per cent since 2004, driven by the advent of larger project financing.

The picture this year has been somewhat subdued across the sector, with only mergers and acquisitions up as several substantial wind developers sold their portfolios and the US ethanol industry underwent restructuring. Many wind developers have realised that with the tightening of credit markets they could not finance the growth themselves.

But last quarter, most areas of investment rebounded, even as global financial markets remained in turmoil. Sustainable energy venture capital and private equity in the second quarter was up 34 per cent year on year.

Most of the new money flowed into Europe, followed by the United States.

However, China, India and Brazil draw growing investor interest. Their share of new investment grew from 12 per cent in 2004 to 22 per cent last year, an increase in absolute terms of 14 times - from $1.8 billion to $26 billion.