Meeting the President's Challenge on Clean Energy at the ARPA-E Summit

Ed. Note: Cross posted from the Department of Energy blog.

Last week, President Obama told us in his 2011 State of the Union address that “we need to out-innovate the rest of the world”, especially in clean energy technology. As it turns out, energy innovators across the country are already working on doing just that. Hundreds of these energy leaders will be converging at a conference that the Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E)  is hosting one month from now.

From February 28 – March 2, ARPA-E and partner organizations will host the second annual ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit at the Gaylord Convention Center, just outside Washington, DC. The event is designed to bring together key players from across the energy ecosystem – researchers, entrepreneurs, investors, corporate executives and government officials – to share ideas for developing and deploying the next generation of clean energy technologies.

One of the Summit’s biggest draws is the Technology Showcase, where attendees can see firsthand more than 200 groundbreaking technologies that are poised to help America win the future. At the Technology Showcase, investors can meet entrepreneurs and scout for technologies to fund, researchers can form partnerships and share ideas to improve their work and large corporations can learn about the latest product innovations that could lead to future business. Bringing all these groups together makes the Summit a perfect catalyst for solving the world’s energy challenges.

In addition to getting a glimpse of some of tomorrow’s technologies, attendees will have the opportunity to hear from energy leaders such as Energy Secretary Steven Chu, U.S. Navy Secretary Raymond Mabus, Bank of America Chairman and former DuPont CEO Charles (Chad) O. Holliday, Jr. and many other notable speakers and panelists.

Last week, the President told us that “we’ve begun to reinvent our energy policy. We’re not just handing out money. We’re issuing a challenge.” Hundreds of the leaders who are stepping up to this challenge will be at the 2011 Summit. I hope you will join us.

To register and to learn more, please visit the ARPA-E Summit website.

The 2011 ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit is being co-hosted by ARPA-E, the U.S. Department of Energy, and the Clean Technology and Sustainable Industries Organization, with support from the National Venture Capital Association and the Kauffman Foundation.