To support development of new and advanced energy technologies like solar, hybrid cars and more, a new umbrella organization, Advanced Energy Economy (AEE), has formed. The organization launched in Denver on Nov. 7. The organization merged with the Clean Energy Network, launched with chapters in nine states and represents more than 700 companies.

AEE encompasses a wide range of technologies including wind, solar, electric and plug-in hybrid cars, lightweight composites for airplane bodies, natural gas-fueled trucks, high-performance buildings, more efficient industrial processes and nuclear technologies.

“AEE has been formed because there is a need for a unified business voice on one of the critical questions of our time—how the world is going to meet its energy needs as global consumption rises a projected 50 percent by 2035?” said AEE Vice President Robert Keough. “Meeting this challenge will require new solutions, and developing those solutions should be seen as an economic opportunity for the U.S.”

Though the new organization was created as the 2012 presidential campaign is starting to heat up, the organization is looking further ahead, Keough said.

“Creating the most favorable business climate for pursuing this opportunity—at the state, regional and national levels—will require an ongoing effort, not a focus on a single election cycle,” he said.

The initial states with chapters are Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Ohio, Rhode Island and Vermont, according to the organization. Board members of the organization include George Shultz, former secretary of Labor, Treasury and State, former Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter, and former FCC Chair Reed Hundt.

AEE also allows existing organizations to become members and use its broader network to connect on a national scale.

“This is how groups like New England Clean Energy Council and Colorado Cleantech Industry Association have become chapters of AEE; AEE Ohio itself represents a new collaboration among eight existing economic development organizations in that state,” Keough said.

AEE and its chapters or members may engage in affecting some federal policy, but that’s not its main goal.

“The primary focus of AEE and its chapters is going to be on the state and regional level. Numerous states—California, Colorado, Connecticut, Ohio, New Jersey and Texas among them—have developed favorable business climates for advanced energy innovation and development and are reaping the benefits, even as federal policy remains uncertain and politically divided,” Keough said.

The organization will work to promote advanced energy in every state throughout the U.S.

Image courtesy of NREL.