There is an article from personal finance columnist Sandra Block that nicely sums up the energy efficiency tax breaks included in the stimulus bill. One great way to take advantage of the credit is to purchase an energy-efficient air conditioner. The Dallas Morning News has some additional great tips on energy-efficient cooling. Utilities like PG&E in California also sometimes provide rebates on purchases, depending on the unit purchased, sweetening the pot even more. Adding up any rebates, tax credit and the lower electricity bill from a more efficient system should provide a very strong incentive for taxpayers to update or upgrade their cooling systems.

The CleanTech Group announced this week its preliminary 2008 findings for clean technology venture investments in North America, Europe, China and India. According to the report, VC investments totaled a record $8.4 billion in 2008, up 38% from $6.1 billion in 2007. Solar investments dwarfed other sectors, accounting for 40% of the total at $3.3 billion, with biofuels coming in second at $904 million, or 11%. Some reporting on this data focused on the fact that Q4 saw a 34% decrease from Q3, but that is only down 4% compared to Q4 2007, so I’m focusing on the $2.3 billion increase for the year.

So as we start the year amid this economic turmoil while at the same time ushering in a green-friendly Obama administration, it will be interesting to see if clean tech VC will have a similar jump in 2009…and it will be nice if our 401(k)’s did as well!