Andy Hannah: Advice to our Next President

Recently I was asked by a Business Week reporter what businesses are looking for in energy policy from the next President of the United States. What would make the most sense for our country in terms of staying competitive while tackling the anticipated energy shortfall?  What does our new President need to do? What tangible actions would I recommend to our President and his new administration?

Here's my advice on those very issues: Today’s clean-tech intellectual property is tomorrow’s oil. There is little question that within the next 40 years, the global demand for energy will easily exceed supply if we don’t find new sources of energy beyond traditional fossil fuels. Now the question becomes,“What does this projected imbalance mean for the United States?”     

The answer depends entirely on the actions we take today.  If we take a leadership role, we can develop and secure the critical technologies       that will generate the energy needed for the unprecedented and anticipated demand and simultaneously drive a multi-trillion dollar growth market that creates jobs. If we take a follower role, we may find ourselves paying ever increasing prices for traditional energy and depending on other nations’ technology for next generation energy sources. This poses a real and significant risk to our national security and financial stability as a country.

I recently returned from a Department of Energy trade mission to the    Middle East.  The UAE has a self-awareness about the fragility of their good fortune that I wasn’t expecting. For example, they understand that the oil profits they have become accustomed to have created a way of life that is not sustainable.  They understand that to maintain this prosperity, they must take those profits and build a sustainable source of commerce. Their solution is to become the financial services and energy technology center of the world by spending tens of billions of dollars each year to build infrastructure, attract talent and develop technology (from      institutions like MIT).  They are focused on becoming the world leaders in these areas.

The United States must learn from and recognize this ambition, and take an equally focused approach on clean technology and renewable energy. First, we need a strong voice from the White House, a President who is willing to use a bully pulpit and real investment dollars to stimulate a portfolio of energy technologies that will stabilize energy prices and  create the opportunity for the United States to be an exporter of energy. 

As a government, we must ensure that our nation’s energy intellectual property is protected and maintained in the U.S. so that we remain competitive. The opportunity for the United States is economic prosperity - the likes of which we saw during the industrial revolution and the boom of silicon, computing and telecom.

There is no nation on earth better positioned to merge energy markets with technology. Here are the steps to success:     

* Collaborate. Participate with other nations, such as the UAE, where the vision is to be the world leader in energy technology.

* Compete. Establish a competitive platform that “reaches for the moon”.  Let’s build a new city that has net zero carbon emissions or overhaul an existing city so that it has net zero carbon emissions. Let’s build a cluster of companies in a city that drives more than half of its economy from the export of energy technology. 

* Use our assets.  All of our government properties could convert its energy sources from traditional energies to clean and alternative energy technology.
  
* Win.  What are the global visionaries expecting to achieve?  Let’s double the ante.There are many efforts already in progress across the United States to establish excellence in clean and renewable energy technology.Sometimes they are loosely connected and most times they are independent in their efforts.  As a country of ingenuity, invention and determination we need to harness all of those traits and drive a coordinated, nationwide effort to ensure that America’s clean-tech intellectual property is tomorrow’s oil.

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Andy Hannah is CEO of Plextronics. He originally wrote this in his company's blog. When he isn't riding camels, Sean Rollman is CFO at Plextronics.

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Picture of Sean Rollman in Egypt courtesy Sean Rollman

Photographs of Andy Hannah (top and bottom) copyright Brian Cohen