Investment in low-carbon energy surged to a record $243 billion last year, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

China led the dramatic grown with $51.1 billion in spending --- a 30 per cent rise over 2009.

Growth in the installation of small-scale solar-power systems surged 91 per cent to $59.6 billion, according to the London-based research company.

The investment defies skepticism about the clean-energy sector, according to New Energy Finance CEO Michael Liebreich. He told Bloomberg news:

“We have been saying for some time that the world needs to reach a figure of $500 billion per annum investment in clean energy if we are to see carbon emissions peak by 2020. What we are seeing in these figures for the first time is that we are halfway there.”

Utility-scale projects such as wind farms, solar parks and biofuel plants accounted for about half the expenditure.

Monte Paulsen researches sustainability for the non-profit Tyee Solutions Society.