Booming Chinese solar installations propelled annual worldwide investments in renewable energy and energy-smart technology 3 percent higher to $333.5 billion last year—the second-highest on record, a Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) report showed on Tuesday. China and the U.S. led the way with the largest portions of clean energy investment, and while European investment dropped — pushed down by changed policies in the UK and Germany — funding for renewables and smart energy tech in Australia and Mexico boomed, BNEF said. The 2017 investments were just 7 percent below the all-time high of $360.3 billion reached in 2015, but last year’s figure is remarkable because capital costs for the leading renewable investment — solar — have been sharply dropping and were some 25 percent cheaper per MW compared to 2015, said Jon Moore, BNEF’s chief executive. Solar investment led the way in global financing, with $160.8 billion last year, […]