Washington : Carrying the momentum of unprecedentedcooperation   and  providing  the  perfect  setting  for  deliberation  onstrategies  and  activities  for  Indo-U.S.  collaboration  towards  energysecurity ahead of the much awaited visit of President Barack Obama to India in  November,  The  Energy  and  Resources  Institute  (TERI) North Americaorganized  the  second  annual  U.S.-India  Energy Partnership Summit.  Thesummit   themed   “Technologies  and  Policies  for  Energy  Security”  was co-convened  by  Yale  University  with  support from the US-INDIA BusinessCouncil  (USIBC)  and drew over 200 participants from government, industry,think tanks, academia, banks and the finance sector.

India and the United States share a large capital in science and technology manpower,  and  in  innovation and enhancing it to tackle the challenges of energy  security  was  the  focus  of experts and policymakers from the two countries  at  the  high-level  conference. The Summit provided the perfect setting  for  deliberations  on  strategies  and  activities  for Indo-U.S. collaboration  towards  energy  security  for  both countries, as they move towards low carbon economic pathways.

US  Energy  Secretary  Dr  Steven  Chu  in  his  video  message  said  “the partnership  between  the  two countries to advance clean energy drawing on India’s  world  class  science  resources  that  was developed during Prime Minister  Manmohan  Singh’s  visit  to  the US last year will be given high priority  during  President  Obama’s visit to India in November.” Dr Chu, a Nobel  Prize  winner  in physics, asserted that India and the US faced some similar  challenges  with  growing  energy  consumption  and  dependence on imported energy resources.

Dr RK. Pachauri, Director General TERI and President TERI-North America, in his  address said that it was imperative for India and the US to pool their resources  – the skills, technological capabilities and innovativeness – to develop  policies  and  solutions  to  the  challenges  of energy security. “President  Obama’s  November  visit  will  be important for ramping up the cooperation  to  deal  with  the problems that both countries face and this summit  would  help  develop a roadmap for policymakers who will be setting the  agenda  for  the  visit”.  He  further added that to boost cooperation between  the two countries in the energy field, his organization had set up TERI  North  America.  Dr  Pachauri  is also Director at the Yale Climate &Energy Institute and Chairman of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change,on whose behalf he received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007.

Richard  C  Levin,  President  of Yale University, in his address said that“institutions  have  to  play  a  constructive  role in dealing with energy security  and climate change issues.” He cited the efforts of Yale in joint research in forestry, and curriculum and academic exchanges.

John Holdren, the Assistant to the US President for Science and Technology,outlined  the  longstanding cooperation between the two countries in energy and  environment and said that during Obama’s visit clean energy technology and finance agreements will take the joint endeavors to a higher level.

Representative  Ed  Markey, Chairman of the House of Representatives Select Committee  on  Energy  Independence  and  Global  Warming,  referred to the recording  this  week  of  the  hottest  day  on record in Los Angeles that underscored  the  tremendous  surges  in weather extremes in 2010 caused by heat-trapping  pollution.  He  said  that  “India and the US share the same resources  –  a  research and development infrastructure and a tradition of innovation  – that will help find ways to deal with the problem.”  He cited the  telecommunication revolution where the US went from “black rotary dial telephones  to  Blackberries”  in  less than a decade. “The revolution came about because of policy changes and similarly the catalyst for a revolution in the energy field will be policy changes” he added.

Representative  Brian  Baird  said  that the US was strongly committed to a 50-50  partnership  with  India  in  the energy field. “We need every smart brain working” on energy issues.”

Todd  Stern,  the  US Special Envoy for Climate Change, said that India and the  US  were  robust  democracies  that  share  an entrepreneurial spirit,innovation  and  people  capable  of  working  on  science  and  technology research.  He  said  that  the  PACE program of cooperation in clean energy launched last year will get a US government funding of $50 million over the next five years.

Christopher  Flavin,  the President of the World Watch Institute, said that strategically for India and the US the developments in China were important as  it was rapidly developing innovations and pricing in alternative energy sources.  “While  democracies  have some inefficiencies, both of us have to overcome this – US and India have to learn to work together.”

Several  of  the  experts talked of the importance of the private sector in finding  solutions  to energy problems and in fostering cooperation between the  two  countries.  Rep.  Markey  said  that  the private sector has more resources and has to drive the change in the energy sector. Rep. Baird said that  while  solutions  are unlikely to come from the Congress, the private sector can provide solutions.

Mr.  Clay  Nesler,  the Vice President for Global Energy and Sustainability for Johnson Controls, cited the project undertaken with the Clinton Climate Initiative  to  retrofit  a mall in Mumbai to make it more energy efficient and as a model for others in India.

Ms  Naina  Lal Kidwai, the Group General Manager and Country Head for HSBC,said  that  India  builds  the  equivalent  of  one Chicago every year and,therefore,  it was important to design them to be energy efficient from the start.

Ms  Meera  Shankar  Ambassador of the Republic of India to the US said that among  the  areas  for  cooperation between India and the US was creating ajoint research center with an investment of $25 million to $30 million each  to  develop smart grids, new energy sources and other technologies in clean energy,  mapping  and  development  of  shale  gas  and  innovating  in theregulatory areas like building.

Soon  after the U.S.-India Energy Summit in 2009, President Obama and Prime Minister  Singh  signed  a  memorandum  of  understanding  that  included a U.S.-India Green Partnership, and recently, in June 2010, the two countries held  the inaugural round of the U.S.-India Strategic Dialogue. This year’s Summit,  again  like  last  year’s Summit comes at a crucial time when both countries  are  looking  forward  to ink new cooperation agreements as they face  unique  yet  related challenges, and there are clear areas of synergy that can be identified for bilateral cooperation.