If becoming world leader in renewable energy research, development and manufacture is a battle, you can bet that’s a fight the USA intends on winning, and money – even the free market system itself – is no object.
US Energy Secretary Steven Chu has announced the Department of Energy (DOE) will open the books on thousands of patents filed away inside 17 state-run laboratories in an effort to find “America’s Next Top Energy Innovator.”
Under the Obama Administration’s “Startup America Initiative,” start-up companies will be given the opportunity to license groundbreaking technologies developed by government scientists working in the field of renewable energy and innovation for just $1000 and the Department will expedite patent filing by cutting red tape.
New data from Pew Charitable Trust show China is drubbing the USA in the global clean energy business, attracting a record USD$54.4 billion in investments last year alone, while America slipped to third with UDS$34 billion.
Under normal circumstances it can cost up to $50,000 for companies to license new government technologies, such as a Berkeley Lab solar energy storage and transfer system that converts solar energy to chemical energy and subsequently, to thermal energy. The system includes a light-harvesting station, a storage station and a thermal energy release station that enables transportation of stored energy over long distances.
Secretary Chu said government intervention has become necessary if small companies are to gain an edge in the competitive world market for clean energy.
“Because we’ve cut the upfront fees and reduced the paperwork, we’ll make it easier for start-up companies to succeed and create the new jobs our economy needs. Our goal is simple: unleash America’s innovation machine and win the global race for the clean energy jobs of the future,” Secretary Chu said.
