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While Umatilla County is making things harder for wind developers (subscription required), worldwide investment in renewables is exploding like a roman candle.

Global investment in renewable energy grew by 32 percent during 2010, with a record level of $211 billion invested in that year, mainly in wind farms in China and rooftop solar panels in Europe.

The BBC today that showed massive levels of green energy investment, largely localized in developing areas of the world.

• South and Central America: up 39 percent (from 2009 levels) to $13.1 billion

• Middle East and Africa: up 104 percent to $5 billion

• India: up 25 percent to $3.8 billion

China led the pack, spending $48.9 billion, up 28 percent from 2009. Though Europe saw a decline in wind-farm spending, small-scale solar flourished, especially in Germany, where investment in photovoltaic solar panels increased by 132 percent.

The report noted that the cost per megawatt of renewable technologies continues to fall; the cost of photovoltaic modules has fallen on a per-megawatt basis by 60 percent since 2008.

-Peter Beland

Photo by via Flickr