"How to reduce a billion tons of CO2, add millions of jobs, ensure energy independence"

How to reduce a billion tons of CO2, add millions of jobs, ensure energy

independence(By Amy Lou Jenkins via Examiner.com)A new report by clean technology CEOs, venture capitalists and academics

iIdentifies a plan to reduce a billion tons of CO2 from each of eight

existing industries, add millions more jobs than fossil fuel industries,

and ensure energy Independence.In a presentation before national policymakers and analysts this month,

leading clean energy CEOs, venture capitalists and academics unveiled the

"Gigaton Throwdown," an assessment of the nation's clean energy potential

that identifies seven industries capable of creating 5 million clean energy

jobs and reducing CO2 emissions by 5-7 gigatons by 2020. The report, and

the content of this press release are the results of a collaborative effort

between leading researchers at UC Berkeley, MIT, University of Michigan,

Stanford, and Drexel University, and clean tech leaders, challenges

Washington policymakers to remove obstacles that keep billions of capital

investment dollars sitting on the sidelines."What we've outlined today is

an ambitious goal, but one that is entirely attainable through hard work

and a concerted effort between government, business and private

investment," said Sunil Paul, founder of the Gigaton Throwdown and founding

director of Spring Ventures. "We are at a crossroads, and the U.S. has an

opportunity to become a leader in this new global sector if we act now. To

us the choice is clear.""This study is a loud, clear message about the

importance of acting now to create a vibrant clean energy economy," said

U.S. Senator John Kerry. "By passing strong legislation, we can grow our

economy and end our dependence on foreign oil. We can ensure that the

United States takes back the lead in creating the clean energy technologies

of the future -- wind turbines, solar panels and energy efficiency products

-- and that American companies benefit. This will help rebuild our

manufacturing base, jump-start our economy and create millions of clean

energy jobs that can't be shipped overseas.""Investments in clean energy

technologies -- and policies that encourage those investments -- can pay

off handsomely with jobs and economic growth while reducing our dependence

on foreign oil and tempering the impacts of climate change," said John P.

Holdren, Assistant to the President for Science and Technology and Director

of the Office of Science and Technology Policy.The report identified seven

existing industries -- biofuel, nuclear, solar, geothermal, wind, building

efficiency, and construction materials -- that could reach gigaton scale

over the next 10 years with new infusions of private capital. To attain

gigaton scale, a single technology must reduce worldwide carbon dioxide and

equivalent greenhouse gas emissions by at least 1 billion tons - a gigaton

- per year by 2020."The Gigaton Throwdown sets our collective sights on

game changing combinations of science, technology and policy that can turn

the needed levels of climate protection and energy security into a roadmap

for laboratory-to-industry partnerships," said Dan Kammen, of the

University of California-Berkeley. "Quite frankly, I am tired of watching

the exceptional technology advances in the renewable energy field become

big business in Europe or Asia when they could just as easily become

multi-billion dollar companies here. The Gigaton Throwdown can be a

catalyst for academia-government-industry synergies to make these

innovations in U. S. green businesses.""Thinking at gigaton scale is

helping us identify our ultimate potential," said Steen Riisgaard is

President & CEO of Novozymes. "Novozymes has the aim to help our customers

achieve a 75 million tons reduction in greenhouse gases by 2015. But we

actually believe the potential is much, much higher if you look at entire

industrial biotech space, where we think can reach gigaton scale within

10-20 years."Curre