2009 will go down as one of the worst years in economic history. Overall venture capital spending fell to its lowest level in more than a decade. Initial public offerings (IPOs) in the U.S. continued at historic lows, with just 13 venture-backed IPOs in 2009 (up only slightly from a meager six venturebacked IPOs in 2008), according to Thomson Reuters and the National Venture Capital Association. Once stalwart financial and market leaders crumbled under new harsh economic realities, with many shuttering their operations or surviving as a mere shell of their former selves. Governments around the world, working to stave off a global depression, announced unprecedented commitments to stimulus programs to keep the global economy on life support.

But signs of hope have begun to emerge for the clean-tech sector. From Beijing to Seoul, and Washington, D.C. to Brussels, clean energy has become a driving force for economic recovery. Approximately $100 billion of the $787 billion stimulus package in the U.S. will go to clean-tech investments and activities; South Korea's "Green New Deal" is estimated to commit $84 billion to clean-tech investments by 2013; and China, by some estimates, could end up spending $440 billion to $660 billion toward its clean-energy build out over the next ten years. And while total venture activity was down, clean energy's percent of the total continued to increase, to 12.5 percent of total venture activity in 2009 in the U.S. alone.

Against this backdrop, combined global revenue in 2009 for solar photovoltaics (PV), wind power, and biofuels expanded by 11.4 percent over the prior year, reaching $139.1 billion. All three sectors saw an increase in total deployment, with increased revenue for both biofuels and wind power. Solar, however, saw its first decrease in total revenue over the prior year since Clean Edge began tracking global revenues in 2000.

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