Global cleantech market to top $2 trillion by 2035 – IEA

, Senior Science and Economics Correspondent
Source: International Energy Agency Energy Technology Perspectives 2024 report • Data for 2035 is a projection based on current policy conditions.

The global clean technology market has more than tripled in the last eight years and, under current policies, is expected to nearly triple again by 2035 to surpass $2 trillion.

That’s according to a new report published by the International Energy Agency looking at six top clean energy technologies — solar photovoltaic cells, wind energy, electric cars, electrolyzers (the machines used to produce hydrogen from water), batteries and heat pumps.

The report focuses on the major economies in the clean technology marketplace — China, the United States, Europe and India. It also analyzes the potential for emerging and developing economies to become more engaged in the cleantech market based on 60 parameters, including a country’s resources, energy infrastructure, grids, pipelines and ports.

“It is very easy here to get lost in the billions and trillions, but I think the main message you need to retain here is that clean technologies are no longer a niche market, nor just a climate story. They now constitute a sizable market and are an important industrial opportunity,” said Timur Gül, head of the Energy Technology Policy Division at IEA, on a conference call with reporters.

At $2 trillion, the clean energy technology market in 2035 will be “more or less equal” to the global crude oil market today, said Fatih Birol, executive director of the IEA.

It’s hard to overstate what a big role China plays here: China controls an average of 70% of the clean technology manufacturing in the world, Birol said.

China is currently building what will be its largest solar panel manufacturing facility in the Shanxi province. That one manufacturing facility would be able to meet all the European Union’s demand for solar cells, Birol said.

The U.S. has made “major steps forward” in the global clean technology marketplace, specifically “getting a big boost from the Inflation Reduction Act,” Birol said. With Republican Donald Trump winning last week’s election, however, the pace of climate technology progress in coming years in the U.S. is uncertain.

Globally, trade in clean energy is expected to keep growing, with China set to dominate cleantech trade routes for the next ten years.