Do you like numbers? It must be your lucky day, for Greenbang has some new insights into the total worth of the clean tech market.

Mind you, if you like numbers, then every day must be your lucky day – just look at your bank card, there are a load on there. And the front of buses, they’ve definitely got a few numbers on them. And for a special treat, you could read the phone book. Shedloads of the things, right there for you to enjoy.

But just to keep you going, here’s some highlights from industry watchers New Energy Finance.

New Energy Finance’s latest numbers show that total new investment in clean energy reached $148.4bn in 2007, up 60% compared to 2006. This represents a significant upward revision compared to the provisional figure, which showed an increase of 41%.

Overall new investment in clean energy – excluding mergers, acquisitions and buy-outs – has surged from $33.4bn in 2004, to $58.7bn in 2005, $92.6bn in 2006 and $148.4bn in 2007.

This expansion has occurred across all the main categories of investment. Venture capital and private equity investment in clean energy companies jumped 34% last year to $9.8bn; equity finance provided by public market investors more than doubled (up 123%) to $23.4bn, thanks in part to the record breaking IPO of Iberdrola Renovables; and the financing of assets such as wind farms and biofuel plants climbed 68% to $84.5bn.

Tags: acquisition, buyout, clean tech, investment, merger, new energy finance