Cleantech Venture Network reported that North American VC investment in the cleantech category totaled a record $2.9 bln for 2006, representing a 78% increase over 2005 cleantech investment of $1.6 bln, and a 140% increase over 2004 investment of $1.2 bln. About $613 mln was invested in cleantech in Q4 2006, a 22% increase over the Q4 2005 investment of $502 mln. The Q4 2006 was down from the record invested in Q3 2006 of $933 mln. Energy-related investment accounted for $2.1 bln, or 74%, of the total 2006 cleantech venture investment. This represented a 1.9x increase over the $739 mln invested in the energy category in 2005 and a 2.9x increase over 2004 energy investment. The Energy Generation segment totaled $1.3 bln, a 2.1x increase from 2005. Energy Storage attracted $354 mln, representing a 2x increase over 2005.