Worldwide venture investments in clean technology plunged more than 40 percent in the first quarter of 2009, as the recession and liquidity issues hit the investment community. Billions of dollars from government stimulus packages targeting clean technology companies, however, should help fill some of that gap.

First-quarter venture investments in clean technology in North America, Europe, China, and India totaled $1 billion, down 41 percent from the previous quarter and down 48 percent from the year-ago period, according to preliminary figures released Wednesday by San Francisco-based Cleantech Group, a research and media company, and accounting and consulting firm Deloitte & Touch.

“Investors across the world are getting more conservative,” said Brian Fan, a Cleantech Group researcher. “What made sense six or nine months ago doesn’t make sense today.”

Liquidity is the other major factor behind the investment decline, Mr. Fan said. Venture capitalists are struggling to raise money for their funds from their traditional investors, like pensions and hedge funds. They have seen the value of their portfolios drop significantly in the last 12 months and now have less cash to hand over to VCs.

This means clean tech financing has moved into a new phase, Mr. Fan said. Financing will come at a slower pace and in a smaller scale than the previous two years.

“If you’re a new clean tech startup, the fact that venture funding is down will be painful,” he said.

But the Cleantech Group and Deloitte said that one bright spot is the increasing funding from governments. Almost $400 billion of some $2.6 trillion in economic stimulus allocations announced so far by industrialized nations are earmarked for clean technologies, according to a report to be presented at the G20 Summit in London later this week.

This government funding, however, will likely benefit more mature technology companies. Startups that have proven their products and can show that they will create jobs and build factories stand the best chance of tapping the government support, Mr. Fan said.

North America accounted for $687.6 million, or 68 percent, of the total venture funding in 48 rounds in the first quarter of this year. That was down 43 percent from the previous quarter and 47 percent from the same period in 2008.

European and Israeli companies raised $281 million in 31 rounds, down 11 percent from the fourth quarter of last year and 31 percent from a year ago. Chinese companies raised $21 million in two deals in the first quarter of 2009, and Indian companies raised a total of $54 million across three deals.

For the first time in several years, there wasn’t a venture round for more than $100 million. The largest round went to Norsun, a Norwegian polysilicon producer, which raised $72 million led by Good Energies. Close on Norsun’s heels was U.S.-based concentrated PV startup SolFocus, which raised $67 million from Apex Venture Partners, NEA, and NGEN.

The large rounds for a handful of solar companies helped the solar sector remain the largest recipient of venture funding for the first quarter. It took in $346 million, compared with $96 million for biofuels, $94 million for advanced batteries, and $78 million for electric vehicles.