Sustainable connections: forum highlights role of information technology in alternative energy.

• Author: Young, Martha
• Position: [planet-profit] REPORT

What do stirrups, steam engines, the telegraph, railroads, the U.S. Postal Service and the Internet have in common? Each spans entire continents, connects people, and has achieved commercial success through government investment.

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Connectivity was in evidence in November at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's Industry Growth Forum, which highlighted emerging products and solutions in alternative, renewable and sustainable energies. Now in its 22nd year, the Denver event has grown from a small conference emphasizing wind and solar technologies to a world-renowned event attracting hundreds of entrepreneurs, investors and public policy makers.

Paul Brubaker, senior director of Cisco Systems Internet Solutions, noted the role information technology is playing in the development of new alternative-energy markets.

"As climate change and the need for alternative energy sources accelerate on a global basis, we are witnessing the inflection of information technology to spur alternative solutions into the commercial market place," Brubaker said. "We also anticipate IT will provide the underlying framework to support the energy-aware consumer."

More than 30 alternative-energy solutions providers competed for the top prize of investment and professional guidance from NREL and Deutsche Bank Climate Change Advisors to bring their product or service to market. Competitors represented a wide range of alternative-energy issues, including carbon capture and sequestration, solar photovoltaic, energy storage, lighting and insulation.

"What really makes a successful economic transformation is innovative, effective business models and business managers," said Bruce Kahn, director and senior investment analyst at Deutsche Bank Climate Change Advisors.

Information technology has become integral to most aspects of the alternative-energy solutions market. One reason is its role in enabling users to evaluate in real time the current environment-such as a room within a building or an entire city.

ON A FUNDAMENTAL LEVEL

Information technology enables scientists and others to readily see climate change on a global basis across a wide spectrum of measures, including particulates in the air, changes in temperatures on land and sea, expansion and contraction of glaciers and ice caps, and other climate-impacting measures. This allows for accurate assessments of our energy consumption and its environmental impact.

ON A COMMUNITY LEVEL

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