The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) study, published in Nairobi, said more than 148 billion dollars (93 billion euros) of new funds were ploughed into the quest for cleaner energy last year.

The massive demand for solar, wind and biofuel energy was being powered by prevailing climate change worries, growing support from world governments and rising crude oil prices, the UN agency said.

"Just as thousands were drawn to California and the Klondike in the late 1800s, the green energy gold rush is attracting legions of modern-day prospectors in all parts of the globe," UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner said in a statement.

"What is unfolding is nothing less than a fundamental transformation of the world's energy infrastructure."

The UNEP report said wind energy had attracted the highest investment, raking in 50.2 billion dollars in 2007. As of March 2008 its production capacity was more than 100 gigabytes, it added.

Solar power grew most rapidly, attracting some 28.6 billion dollars in new capital and growing at an average annual rate of 254 percent since 2004.

Biofuel investment declined by one-third to 2.1 billion in 2007 with new investment shifting from the US to the growth economies of Brazil, India and China.

Much of the new cash flowed into Europe and the US, but China, India and Brazil were drawing increasing interest with investment in the three nations up from 12 percent in 2004 to 22 percent last year -- an increase from 1.8 billion dollars to 26 billion.

Effectively, China, India and Brazil accounted for nearly a quarter of the new investment in clean energy.

Sustainable energy accounted for 23 percent of new power capacity added globally in 2007, about 10 times that of nuclear, the report added.

"Investment in the sustainable energy sectors must continue to grow strongly if targets for greenhouse gas reductions and renewables and efficiency increases are to be met," according to the report.

"Investment between now and 2030 is expected to reach 450 billion dollars a year by 2012, rising to more than 600 billion dollars a year from 2020."

The report added that energy from biomass and geothermal power were being lined up as the next growth industries as the world strives to end its dependency on fossil fuels blamed for contributing to global warming.

Developing nations like China, which has already surpassed the US as the world's largest carbon polluter, are under pressure to take quick measures aimed at curbing its greenhouse gas emissions.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urged the world most populous nation on Tuesday to accept its global responsibilities on climate change.

"China is a global power with a global responsibility and global interests," he said in an address at Beijing's Foreign Affairs University.

"Major emitters from the developing world must also increase their contributions to reduce carbon emissions."

Steiner said transition to cleaner energy sources had become inevitable in the modern world.

"With world temperatures and fossil fuel prices climbing higher, it is increasingly obvious to the public and investors alike that the transition to a low-carbon society is both a global imperative and an inevitability.

"This is attracting an enormous inflow of capital, talent and technology. But it is only inevitable if creative market mechanisms and public policy continue to evolve to liberate rather than frustrate this clean energy dawn."

Although Africa continues to lag other regions in terms of sustainable energy investment, financing in the clean energy sector climbed to 1.3 billion dollars in 2007.

This was five times the level of the previous year and reversed a gradual decline since 2004, the report added.

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