By Nick Wolfe, Contributing Author

The New York Academy of Sciences and E2TAC hosted the 5th Annual New Energy New York Symposium earlier this month as a precursor to the 23rd annual NREL Growth Forum  in Denver taking place this fall. The Academy resides in New York’s first LEED certified green skyscraper, the recently rebuilt World Trade Center 7. It was only fitting that future energy leaders and policy makers would convene in a premier high tech and eco-friendly complex. 

The two- day event consisted of expert panels and discussions in the fields of smart grid, energy policy, battery storage and cleantech entrepreneurship. Much of the first day’s morning session focused on smart grid discussion and forthcoming transformative applications that will pave the way for progress. David Leeds from Greentech Media spoke of the application layers and the power of AMI (advanced metering infrastructure) in building a true end-to-end smart grid platform.  Other comments revolved around the desperate need for grid modernization to improve security and coordinate development of interoperability standards.

Congressman Steve Isreal reflected on the aggressive steps that he has taken to promote renewable energy implementation on a national level. He complemented the work of Governor Paterson and the state’s increased Renewable Portfolio Standard to obtain 30% fossil-free power by 2015.  Many in the audience that day were from NYSERDA, the state energy research and development authority.  Landmark skyscrapers such as the Empire State Building recently underwent a replacement of all windows with much more efficient replacements.

Former Cabinet Minister and Parliament member for India Suresh Prabhu delivered the second keynote address detailing his time spent in public office and the importance of cooperation between the government and the private sector.  He expressed how a forward looking cleantech plan will be necessary in order to meet the energy demands of the coming generations.

One of the most interesting government branches to be involved with the advancement of energy innovation is ARPA-E. They are the government agency set up to promote and fund advanced research and development technologies and have a unit completely dedicated to smart grid. Mark Johnson spoke of the transformational disruptive technologies that could potentially be game changers in the future.

Day 2 of the event focused on clean tech entrepreneurship and a wide number of contestants going neck and neck for a chance to present at the forthcoming NREL Industry Growth Forum. Every aspect of new energy technology was covered from carbon sequestration to ground breaking home geothermal systems and next level wind analytics. In the end the winning presentations belonged to Algal Scientific Corporation, Ener-G-Rotors Inc, and Energy Materials Corporation. 

They will have the chance to compete for venture capital and corporate investors at the 23rd annual NREL Growth Forum to be held in Denver, Colorado October 19th-21st 2010.