There may be a lot of hype out there, but overall, venture capital and private equity firms are indeed putting more money into the green energy sector.

And while U.S.-based investment in clean energy, which includes everything from solar technology to wind farms to ethanol, has lagged Europe in the past, it is on track to surpass it in 2007 for the first time.

Venture capital and private equity firms invested $10.6 billion in the first half of 2007 in clean energy and on an annualized basis, the majority of that spending will take place in the United States this year - the inverse of last year.

That overall pace of investment is up from 2006, when about $18.1 billion was invested in the sector, according to a report from New Energy Finance, a London-based research firm for the sector.

The amount that VC and PE firms will invest is expected to grow at a compound annualized rate of about 17 percent through 2013. And during that time, the report says to expect $262 billion worth of VC and PE deals to close, absorbing $146 billion of equity.

There is one caveat of course. The recent tightening in the credit markets has not yet had an effect on clean energy, but could slow growth in some areas, the report said.

The green energy movement is broad-based, with 1,859 venture capital and private equity investors having either made investments or stated their intention to do so and another 193 funds that invest in clean energy, according to the report.

During this year, like last, wind will get most of the annualized investment of $21 billion in the sector, followed by biofuels, biomass and waste; solar; efficiency, carbon and power storage; fuel cells and hydrogen and then geothermal, mini-hydro and marine and carbon markets, the report said.