September 1, 2011

It’s time for the U.S. to take action when it comes to clean energy. That’s according to Vice President Joe Biden who says the U.S. is already trailing behind China and Germany in green technology. Biden told leaders at the National Clean Energy Summit in Las Vegas there is no reason why the United States can’t lead the world in clean energy. National politicians and green technology leaders attended the summit to discuss energy security and independence.The Vice President called on policymakers to put aside their ideological difference and build what the Obama administration calls a ‘clean energy economy’. Biden says the future will demand that cities produce all of the energy they consume, travel with battery-powered cars and create innovations like bacteria that converts sunlight into fuel.

Vice President Biden equated investing in clean energy as the economy struggles to investing in technology and infrastructure during a war. The small but growing clean technology sector will face several challenges in the coming year. About $30 billion dollars in federal spending from the 2009 stimulus law will be coming to an end and new energy policies that President Obama hoped would spur demand for renewable energy could be stopped in Congress with a Republican-controlled House.

At the summit, Biden announced that five technology companies receiving up to $6 million dollars each from the Department of Energy have since attracted more than $100 million dollars in investments. The firms are developing advanced grid scale batteries, waste heat recovery and new approaches to biofuels.