A new analysis by Cambridge Energy Research Associates estimates that $7 trillion in new investment is expected to flow into the alternative energy industry before 2030.

That’s TRILLION with a T.

According to the report, “increasing public concerns about climate change — and its potential economic and political security consequences — are driving public policy and private investment to bring clean energy technologies from the fringes of the global energy industry to the center of activities as quickly as possible.”

The result of this rising public and private momentum is an increase in worldwide clean energy investment that could surpass US$7 trillion by 2030 in cumulative real 2007 dollars, according to the CERA report Crossing the Divide: The Future of Clean Energy. “We are seeing a major shift in public opinion, reinforced by the expectation that carbon policies could fundamentally change the competitive landscape of the global energy business,” said Daniel Yergin, CERA Chairman and IHS Executive Vice President. “This is providing a vital impetus that is moving clean technology across the great divide of cost, proven results, scale and maturity that has separated it from markets served by mainstream technologies and processes.”

The analysis looks at a variety of alternative energy sources, including biomass, solar and wind.