The 10 most successful countries and the main arguments for the position are:

1. Denmark

- National goal of becoming 100 percent fossil fuel free

- Europe's largest exporter of energy technology and the birthplace of wind technology

- Big players in the industry such as Vestas, Siemens and Gamesa all having major production and R & D facilities in the country.

2. Germany

- Over half of all solar energy is produced in Germany

- Strong government investment in industry has resulted in 10% of energy consumption coming from renewable energy sources

- Germany’s 2050 goal is to have half of primary energy consumtion coming from renewable resources

3. Sweden

- 43.3% of energy consumption comes from renewable energy sources

- Strong growth combined with decreasing carbon dioxide emissions. Between 1990 and 2007, Sweden's GDP grew by 48% while carbon emissions decreased by 9%.

4. The United Kingdom

- Its goal is to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 60% in 2050 while 15% of energy consumption must come from renewable sources in 2020

5. Israel

- It recycles 75% of wastewater and has the world's largest desalination plant

- One of the world's most important R&D center

6. Switzerland

- One of the most successful countries in the financing of environmental technology with big names such as SAM, Good Energies, Emerald, UBS and Picet Sarasin within its borders

7. The United States

- U.S. accounts for 70% of the world's venture capital investments in environmental technology. Big players such as Khosla Ventures, Kleiner Perkins, Google and Intel are investing heavily in the industry

- President Obama has given strong signals that renewable energy is something the U.S. will invest heavily in both in order to diversify energy sources and to stimulate the economy

8. The United Arab Emirates

- The building of Masdar City, which is an investment of 15 billion dollars and that will be home to more than 1500 companies in the renewable energy segment, sends a good signal - especially when done by one of the world's largest oil exporters.

9. China

- One of the world's leading manufacturers of photovoltaic technologies. Six of the country's largest manufacturers has an aggregate market value of more than $ 15 billion

- 7.5% of the country's energy consumption last year came from renewable sources, including nuclear power. The goal is that the figure should stand at 10% in 2010 and 15% in 2020

10. Canada

- Canada is the world's second largest producer of electricity from hydropower, where some provinces get as much as 90% of energy from hydropower.

- The government has invested 1 billion U.S. dollars in a fund that will finance development and demonstration of new environmental technologies


Read more at http://cleantech.com/news/5127/top-10-cleantech-countries-2009

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