We have jumped into the Alternative Energy Economy with both feet this year. The country has been dabbling in this space for decades, but when oil hit $100 a barrel, gas at the pump exceeded $4 a gallon and diesel exceeded $5, the entire country became painfully aware of just how dependent we have become on foreign oil. The outcry from people across the country was for investment in alternative energy. Fortunately, research has been quietly taking place in laboratories all over the country from universities, private businesses and national research facilities. The challenge we face now is bringing that intellectual property to commercialization.
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The NREL (National Renewable Energy Laboratory) 21st Industry Growth Forum is being held in Denver this week. NREL is part of the US Department of Energy.  The conference has participants from a wide variety of alternative energy companies including batteries and energy storage, ethanol development, wind turbines, photovoltaic technology and much more. The conference includes emerging companies in the alternative energy arena, established companies seeking additional funding, venture capitalists with funds to invest, and representatives from several of the universities in Colorado that have programs specific to alternative research.
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According to Colorado Governor, and Forum keynote speaker, Bill Ritter, the state is the global hub of alternative energy research and companies. There are over 200 companies directly engaged in alternative energy solutions based in the State. In addition, the University of Colorado, Colorado School of Mines and Colorado State University has developed a virtual “collabratory,†partnering with NREL, to work together in sharing intellectual property development, testing and brilliant minds.
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IT plays a key role in development, collaboration and commercialization of alternative energy. In speaking with several of the vendors on the conference floor, virtualization of business processes is fundamental in their success. The core team consists of engineers, but the supply chain and all non-core functions are contracted out. I repeatedly ran into the statement that this business model maximized their funding and allowed them to invest in the engineers they needed to bring their solutions to market more quickly.
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