Through BPC’s American Energy Innovation Council (AEIC), BPC will continue to advance a national clean technology innovation agenda with policymakers, the broader stakeholder community, and media. BPC will also broaden its energy innovation analysis, innovation policy, and advocacy portfolio to effectively engage in budget, tax reform, and policy discussions during 2012 and 2013.

AEIC members Ursula Burns (left), Chairman and CEO of Xerox, and Bill Gates, Chairman of Microsoft

The mission of the American Energy Innovation Council is to foster strong economic growth, create jobs in new industries, and reestablish America’s energy technology leadership through robust, public investments in the development of world-changing energy technologies. Our Principals are CEOs and business leaders who believe in clean energy, support AEIC, and work to advance our mission. Learn more about AEIC.

BPC Innovation in Energy Events

Energy Innovation at the Department of Defense: Assessing the Opportunities

March 28, 2012

If the U.S. is to achieve a timely transition to reliable, low-cost, low-carbon energy, we must make continued advances in a suite of energy technologies. Increasingly, the Department of Defense (DoD) is recognized as a powerful driver of advanced energy technologies. Although DoD has been one of the most potent innovators in history, DoD's security mission will always take priority. Therefore, a key challenge for policymakers is maximizing DoD's capacity to contribute to progress on energy-related technologies in ways that also advance its security mission.

BPC hosted a discussion of the opportunities and challenges at DoD for accelerating advanced energy technologies. The conversation featured leading defense and innovation experts and highlighted findings from a new BPC-commissioned report, Energy Innovation at the Department of Defense: Assessing the Opportunities, by the Consortium for Science, Policy, and Outcomes at Arizona State University and the Clean Air Task Force.

• Event Recap: Defense and Energy Experts Examine Pentagon's Ability to Propel Innovation
• Report
• Video, Photos and Media Coverage

Energy Innovation in a Time of Fiscal Austerity and Policy Uncertainty

Febraury 7, 2012

Energy innovation offers the best chance for solving the urgent and interrelated problems of worldwide insecurity over energy supplies, rapidly growing energy demand, and climate change. But if we are to achieve a timely transition to reliable, low-cost, low-carbon energy, the U.S. energy innovation system must be significantly improved. Creating an innovation system to produce sustained and timely advances across a range of energy technologies is especially challenging in this era of budget cuts and fiscal austerity.

BPC held a discussion on how we can speed up the introduction of new technologies and business models and accelerate their deployment on a massive scale. The conversation explored Lester and Hart's new book, Unlocking Energy Innovation: How America Can Build Low-Cost, Low-Carbon Energy System, and highlighted ways to advance innovative technologies amidst challenging fiscal and political times.

Video and Photos