The US scored 71 in the ‘all renewables index’, with individual scores per renewable technology of 72 for wind, 75 for solar and 64 for investment in biomass energy. Spain scored 68 for investment in ‘all renewables’, coming in just below the US which moves up from second place.

China moved up from eighth to sixth. There was a four-way tie for seventh position, with France holding its seventh position but being joined by Italy (down from sixth reflecting some uncertainty over the future of the green certificate mechanism ), Portugal (up from eighth) and Greece (up from 13th).

The rise of the US to the top spot reflects its “strong long-term outlook for the wind, solar and biofuels sectors, and stretching new targets for emissions reductions set in California,” according to the report. “The move also highlights a degree of uncertainty in Spain over the drafting of a new renewable energy law, due out in 2007, about which rumours over a new tariff regime have stirred concerns by wind farm developers.”

The report also explains that “rapid growth in the USA wind market is forecast to continue this year taking total installed capacity to over 12 GW by the end of the year.” “The scale of wind farm projects continues to increase with the completion of the world’s largest wind farm 735 MW Horse Hollow project owned by FPL Energy in Texas, making Texas the largest wind state ahead of California.”

Investors in the US have a positive outlook for the future of US renewables policy and are investing with the assumption that current policy will continue. “The solar photovoltaic industry has received a modest incentive from the US Department of Energy which plans to provide US$170 million (128.83 million Euros) over three years, aimed at public-private partnerships to research and develop solar photovoltaic technologies. The aim of the subsidy regime is to help make solar PV cost competitive by 2015.”

Overall, the shift in rankings in this latest report reflects the rapid rise of China and India in the renewable energy sector.