Goldman Sachs investing billions in clean energy

Seizing the opportunity to profit from clean energy projects, Goldman Sachs Group announced plans to invest $40 billion over the next ten years.

Market analysts project that the next decade will see a large shift toward renewable energy sources, including wind and solar generation.

President Obama recently renewed his support for the Production Tax Credit (PTC) which provides incentives for companies to develop wind-energy projects.

The global demand for alternative energies is expected to take off as well. Developing countries such as Brazil and China have relied mostly on coal and oil combustion to sustain their growing economies, but at the cost of air quality. Now that these countries are beginning to set deep emission reduction targets, the number of clean energy projects around the world will grow rapidly.

The announcement of its $40 billion investment plan isn’t Goldman Sachs Inc.’s first venture into the alternative energy market.

The group invested over $4 billion as well as $500 million of its own capital in clean energy firms globally in 2011.

Goldman Sachs Inc. has also pledged to go carbon neutral by 2020.