According to a new report from the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and New Energy Finance, R&D expenditures for renewable energy and energy efficiency totaled $16.9 billion in 2007, up from $16 billion in 2006. Corporate R&D accounted for more than half of this spending, rising 8% to $9.8 billion, based on the expenditures of 47 companies. The largest spenders were utility and energy companies, led by GE, United Technologies, BP, Eon and BASF. Government R&D spending for clean energy increased 20% to $7.1 billion last year, led by Japan ($978 million), China ($615 million) and India ($400 million). Excluding China, there are 167 clean energy incubators in the world, a 47% increase from 2006, including 283 companies. Forty-three of these incubators are affiliated with academia or research foundations, 36 are affiliated with the public sector, and 29 are private or family controlled. Sixty-one incubators are active in solar energy, 27 are active in fuel cells, 26 are concentrated on wind energy and 23 work on power storage. The US is home to 56 incubators, while the UK and Germany host 19 and 15, respectively. Source: UNEP