Clean Tech Center participates in U.S. China Economic Commission hearings
The Clean Tech Center was invited to testify at a recent hearing by the U.S. China Economic Security Commission at the Rochester Institute of Technology on opportunities related to the renewable energy sector. The Commission is a bi-partisan Congressional Commission selected by the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives.
Clean Tech Center Director Linda Hartsock presented testimony on behalf of both the Clean Tech Center and the Syracuse Center of Excellence in Environmental and Energy Systems (Syracuse CoE) on initiatives across New York State related to high technology, manufacturing, research and development. The Clean Tech Center was asked to speak about developing sectors such as wind, solar, fuel cells and smart grid technologies – industries that China has also aggressively targeted. Panelists were asked to provide input into devising a national strategy for clean tech innovation. China has built the world’s largest solar panel manufacturing industry, and this year China will also surpass the United States as the world’s largest market for wind energy, subsidizing projects with low-interest loans from state-owned banks. The Commission asked for ways to accelerate clean tech growth in the United States.
“We have all seen projections as to what the U.S. green investment program could yield in terms of its potential to lift the labor market,” said Hartsock. “But there is a need to build a public policy that supports the development, commercialization and production of new clean technologies. Given its R&D legacy, and unique asset base of colleges and universities, Upstate New York can become a test bed technologies that can help the energy industry make the transformation from a centralized, producer network to one that is less centralized, and which saves energy and reduces costs.”
