Cleantech has seen tremendous growth in the past decade, with growth rates rivaling those of previous technology revolutions (i.e. in telephony, computers, and the Internet).

Over the past decade, growth in the cleantech sector has exploded. Clean Edge, which has been tracking it since 2000, released its Clean Energy Trends 2011 report recently. With this being the 10-year anniversary of its first report, Clean Tech: Profits and Potential, it not only reported on changes in the last year or two, but changes in the decade as a whole. It showed that the solar energy industry and wind energy industry, among others, have exploded since 2000.

2010 Cleantech Growth

In 2010, combined revenues for the global solar photovoltaics (PV), wind power, and biofuels markets grew from $139.1 billion to $188.1 billion (35.2%).

Global solar PV, in particular, saw tremendous growth -- it more than doubled from 7.1 GW of new installations in 2009 to 15.6 GW of new installations in 2010.

The wind energy market, on the other hand, saw a slight decline from the previous year, the first time it has since Clean Edge started tracking it (2000). China saw an increase in wind power installations and installed a total of 16 GW of wind power capacity, but due to a lot of uncertainty in the U.S. market, a "tight project finance market" there, and a lack of strong federal support for wind power, the U.S. only installed about half of what it had installed in 2009 (and China passed it up as the world leader in total installed wind power capacity).

Cleantech Growth Since 2000

From 2000 to 2010, the global solar PV market has grown from $2.5 billion to $71.2 billion. It's compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for that period, therefore, equals 39.8 percent.

The wind energy market has followed a similar trend. It grew from $4.5 billion in 2000 to over $60.5 billion in 2010.

Other cleantech categories (i.e. hybrid electric vehicles, smart grid technology, and green building) have seen similar growth rates as well.

Cleantech Growth from 2010 to 2020

Growth in these markets is expected to continue surging over the next decade as well. Biofuels, which were at $56.4 billion in 2010, are projected to reach $112.8 billion by 2020. Wind power is expected to go from $60.5 billion to $122.9 billion, and solar PV from $71.2 billion industry to $113.6 billion, over the same time period.

"Together, we project these three benchmark technologies, which totaled $139.1 billion in 2009 and grew 35.2 percent to $188.1 billion in 2010, to grow to $349.2 billion in the next decade," Clean Edge reports. Looks like another promising decade for cleantech.

For more information on Clean Edge's data and findings, download Clean Energy Trends 2011 or visit Clean Edge.

Images via Clean Edge