Investment in renewable energy will likely drop 38 percent worldwide in 2009, an official from the International Energy Agency said on Monday from Bucharest at the Eurelectric annual convention.

Biofuels and offshore wind are some of the clean energies affected the most by the economy, Didier Houssin, director of energy markets and security for the IEA said according to a Bloomberg report.

He also signaled ways that countries can reduce their impact on global warming.

An increase in nuclear generation is essential to halve the current level of carbon dioxide emissions, Houssin noted in the report.

Major world economies have announced about $184.9 billion in stimulus funds aimed at improving clean energy or energy efficiency since September 2008 -according to New Energy Finance.

However the credit crisis has weighed on the industry with a lack of financing for wind or solar energy projects. The timing of the arrival of government stimulus programs is nother factor contributing to the sector's decline.

Overall new worldwide investment this year in the clean energy sector is forecasted to finish between $95 billion and $115 billion, according to a report issued on June 5 by New Energy Finance, an analysis firm for the sector. Those estimates represent a decline between 26 percent and 39 percent from 2008's total of $155 billion.

Already, 2009's first quarter saw a decline in investments of 44 percent compared to the fourth quarter of 2008. This is down 53 percent from a peak in the first quarter of 2008, according to New Energy Finance. Investments in the second quarter have surpassed those in the first quarter by a third.

Renewable energy Energy Investment Fall