Report: 2Q Clean-energy Investment Improves

From January to March, new global investment in clean-energy projects totaled $13.3 billion, down 53 percent from the $28.3 billion invested in the year-ago quarter, New Energy said.

In a telephone interview, Ernst & Young clean-technology analyst Joseph Muscat said he believes the industry is on track to show improvement later this year. The second quarter, he said, is hard to measure at this point.

In the meantime, he said, companies are working to improve technologies across the industry, such as cellulosic biofuels and ways to reduce the cost of electricity.