NW Energy Summit focuses on clean tech, alt. energy innovation

The Northwest Energy Innovation Summit is set to begin Jan. 12 at the Boise Centre on the Grove.

The event, hosted by the WaterCooler in Boise, will run from 11 a.m. on Jan. 12 through 5 p.m. on Jan. 13, with an entrepreneur’s showcase from 7:30 a.m. until 6 p.m. Jan. 14.

Focused on innovation in clean tech and alternative energy, the summit brings together more than 30 industry leaders in innovation, research, corporate leadership, public policy and finance, including former CIA Director James Woolsey, GE Power and Energy President Steve Bolze, 2007 Nobel Peace Prize co-recipient Woodrow Clark II, Microsoft Managing Director Jon Arnold and others.

Panel topics will include Tech Transfer and Commercialization, Economic Development, Financing The Future and Emerging Technologies In Agriculture and Bio Sciences.

“As clean technology and alternative energy emerge as a threshold economic and environmental issue in the 21st century, the Pacific Northwest is uniquely positioned to play a role of leadership, job creation and innovation,” said Boise real estate developer Mark Rivers, who opened the WaterCooler business incubator last year and will chair the conference.

Organizers say the summit is the only scheduled conference focused on innovation in alternative energy, and represents the first energy conference of 2009 for seven northwest states, including Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.

“This event will help drive ideas, new technologies, and new innovations in this critical industry and, will create better regional cooperation and bold initiatives across state borders,” Rivers said.

Sponsored by Stoel Rives LLP; Booz, Allen, Hamilton; KMPG; Boise State University; the University of Idaho; Reuters; and the Idaho National Laboratory, registration for the event costs $200 and will be open until Jan. 11.