The US Department of Energy (DOE) is moving quickly to back up on Barack Obama’s State Of The Union address – in which the President pledged an 80 percent clean energy target – by setting up an “Energy Innovation Portal” that will link companies and investors with new and renewable energy technologies that have been developed under federal government auspices.
The Portal, which currently contains 300 renewable and other energy technology marketing summaries, will effectively allow the US government to “shop” the thousands of DOE-funded innovations made by scientists and engineers working at institutions like the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and Berkeley Laboratory, which have been responsible for some of the leading breakthroughs in solar energy technology in recent times.
Such a direct relationship between government and business goes somewhat against the ethos of the free-market doctrine in the USA, but Energy Secretary Stephen Chu obviously thinks the potential benefits to the nation in terms of job creation and carbon abatement is worth it.
“Our National Laboratories are a major driver of innovation in this country”, he said. “By connecting American entrepreneurs with cutting-edge, ready-to-commercialize technologies from the National Labs, the DOE Innovation Portal is helping to grow our economy and create the next generation of American jobs.”
From solar technologies to biofuels to wind energy, the Portal features some of the foremost renewable energy breakthroughs from DOE’s National Laboratories, like the Berkeley National Lab’s solar storage and transportation system, capable of converting solar energy to thermal energy, which can then be transported long distances. The technology has applications for solar thermal power generation. The product is online and available for investment.
