16 July 2010

Clean Energy Ministerial to Help Accelerate Green Economy

Group’s first meeting will be held in Washington July 19–20

U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu

By Karin Rives
Staff Writer

Washington — Representatives from 24 nations will meet in Washington with U.S. energy officials to look at ways to speed up distribution of clean energy technology, and to discuss how to get ahead in the race toward a green economy.

The Clean Energy Ministerial, a high-level group of mostly energy ministers from all regions of the world, was launched by the Major Economies Forum in 2009 to help countries reduce carbon dioxide emissions and tap into an emerging clean energy economy. The countries represented at the July 19–20 meetings account for 70 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, 80 percent of the global market for clean energy technologies and 80 percent of global gross domestic product, the Energy Department says.

 

Solar energy will be one of the topics discussed at the meeting.

Solar energy will be one of the topics discussed at the meeting.

On the agenda are topics that range across the energy spectrum — super-efficient appliances, smart grids, energy-efficient industry, wind and solar power, carbon capture, and energy access.

Speakers from companies that are spearheading green energy investments will attend on the second day of the meeting, which is open to the public. There will also be several announcements that day on developments related to energy efficiency, smart grid technology, clean electricity and energy access, according to the meeting website.

“We are very excited about the opportunities at this meeting,” said David Sandalow, U.S. assistant secretary of energy for policy and international affairs. “What we’re looking for as goals [is] action to promote clean energy and to launch a process that will make a difference for our children and grandchildren in the years ahead.”

Energy Secretary Steven Chu invited countries to the ministerial after holding a series of meetings over the past year with his counterparts to discuss how best to transition to a more environmentally sound economy and take advantage of new market opportunities. The countries participating in the event were also at the Major Economies Forum held in Italy last year, and had expressed an interest in clean energy topics, Sandalow said.

“We’re delighted to have a broad cross-section of countries … with a variety of different interests in the energy space and the energy sector,” he said.

(This is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://www.america.gov)