Renewable Energy - A Reduction in Investment but Not Interest

Formerly the owner of a branch of Raymond James Financial, Steven Reznik now invests in a number of ventures in the health, biotech, and energy sectors. Currently, Steven Reznik is exploring opportunities in the energy sector. As a whole, investments in energy have dropped, but many investors are still interested in renewable energy innovations.

In the last four years, overall investments in energy (coal, oil, gas, electricity, and renewable energy) have declined. Investment in renewable energy (wind and solar), however, rose in 2017, then decreased 11.5 percent in 2018 and then fell further in 2019. Under the Paris Agreement New Policies Scenario, fuel and power comprise half of the investment, while in the Sustainable Development Scenario, investments in power should be 65 percent. Ultimately, investments in sustainable energy would need to catch up to meet future benchmarks.

There are a few reasons for this drop in investments globally. First and foremost, the costs to manufacture machinery related to solar and wind power (sustainable energy) have dropped. Another reason relates to the need for researchers and scientists to build on previous work to improve existing sustainable technologies. Finally, globally, governments around the world have reduced subsidies as the market matures and other ways of funding research become available.