There was energy in the room as the 4^th Annual Western Hemisphere Energy Security and Cooperation Forum kicked off at the Enrique V. Iglesias Auditorium of the IDB headquarters in Washington, DC on September 9.  Organized by the International Biofuels Commission, the Institute of the Americas and the Inter-American Development Bank, over 175 attendees participated in the historic event including U.S. legislators, senior diplomats, energy analysts, investors and other opinion leaders.

Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN) delivers his keynote address

The conference opened with keynote speaker, Senator Richard G. Lugar of Indiana, senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who was introduced by David Peebles, ETH Bioenergy Inc., an Odebrecht Company, one of the event sponsors.  Sen. Lugar gave an enthusiastic speech about forming an energy alliance in the western hemisphere and spoke about the importance of this type of partnership as a new doctrine for the Western Hemisphere. To view a full transcript of Senator Lugar's speech, click here.

David Peebles, President, ETH Bioenergy Inc, An Odebrecht Company, introduces Sen. Richard G. Lugar (R-IN); Luis Alberto Moreno, President, Inter-American Development Bank; Jeffrey Davidow, President, Institute of the Americas; and Sergio Thompson-Flores, Inifinity Bio-Energy

This was followed by the welcoming remarks by Luis Alberto Moreno, President of the IDB; Jeffrey Davidow, President of the Institute of the Americas and Sergio Thompson-Flores, Chairman of the Infrastructure Committee of the International Biofuels Commission and CEO of Infinity Bio-Energy. President Moreno explained that the IDB is supporting new energy projects in the hemisphere to combat poverty caused by increased energy costs and President Davidow stressed the need to lower the costs of producing ethanol to avoid increases in food costs.  Mr. Thompson-Flores said that regional differences and political issues have to be resolved before progress can be made but also said that there is much being done to achieve this.

Carolina Barco, Colombian Ambassador to the U.S., joins her colleagues Brazilian Ambassador to the U.S. Antonio de Aguiar Patriota; OAS Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza; and panel moderator Jeffrey Davidow, President, Institute of the Americas

Several ambassadors gave their perspectives on energy security in the Americas including Jose Miguel Insulza, Secretary General of the Organization of American States who said that most of the energy problems come down to politics but discussions must continue; Antonio de Aguiar Patriota, Ambassador of Brazil to the U.S. who said that Brazil is ready to work with other countries in the hemisphere to solve the energy problem; and Carolina Barco, Ambassador of Colombia to the U.S. who spoke of forming bilateral agreements between energy-rich and energy poor countries stressing that the stability of the region is tied to energy.

Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) addressing the audience

Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) presenting her remarks

Senator Bill Nelson pushed for “Invent Baby Invent” as opposed to “Drill Baby Drill” and stressed conservation as part of the solution. Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen spoke on energy policy challenges facing the U.S. Congress and stated that energy is both a national security issue as well as an environmental issue.

Along with the Ambassadorial and Congressional perspectives, several panels were organized throughout the day including the view of National Oil Companies and Energy Security.  This panel was moderated by Jeremy M. Martin, Director of the Energy Program of the Institute of the Americas and featured speakers from McKinsey & Company, the IDB and the Institute of the Americas. 
 
Chris Barton, IDB Office of External Relations, coordinated two panels The Road to Sustainable Biofuels and Exploring the Opportunities in Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy which dealt with lessons learned from Latin America and the Caribbean, the IDB’s sustainability scorecard; perspectives on exploring the opportunities in energy efficiency and renewable energy, and financing of these opportunities through the IDB.

The last panel, A Conversation on the Next Administration’s Energy Policies,  drew much attention. Jason Grumet from the Bipartisan Policy Institute represented the campaign of Senator Barack Obama outlining his “New Energy for America Plan,” which consists of providing short-term relief to American families, creating five million new jobs by investing into the private clean energy sector, putting 1 million plug-in Hybrid cars on the streets by 2015, ensuring 10 percent of our electricity comes from renewable sources by 2012 and implementing an economy wide cap-and-trade program to reduce greenhouse gases 80% by 2050. His counterpart, John McCarrick, representing the McCain campaign, explained the candidate’s “Lexington Project” which promotes the exploration and use of the United States’ domestic supply of oil and natural gas, the use of efficiently produced biofuels and the lowering of protectionist measures that prevent the development of market based initiatives in the biofuel sector, investing toward clean coal technologies, and advocating for a cap-and-trade system.

Brian Dean presents the 2008 Akerman Senterfitt Biofuels Innovator Award to Ingo Krieg

Brian Dean presents the 2008 Akerman Senterfitt Biofuels Innovator Award to Sergio Thompson-Flores

One of the highlights of the event was the presentation of the 2008 Akerman Senterfitt Biofuels Innovator Awards to recipients Sergio Thompson-Flores, Chairman of the Infrastructure Committee of the International Biofuels Commission and CEO of Infinity Bio-Energy based in Brazil and to Ingo Krieg, President and CEO of Green Power Systems based in Florida.

Left to right: Brian Dean, William Perry, Sergio Thompson-Flores, Luis Alberto Moreno and Ingo Krieg at the awards ceremony

The awards were presented by Luis A. Moreno, President of the IDB, Brian Dean, Trustee of the IBC and William Perry, Acting Executive Director of the IBC.

“This year's awardees personify the advantages of innovation, private-public sector collaboration, and the need to take a global view of bio-fuels,” stated B. Dean.

Ingo Krieg of Green Power Systems and Sergio Thompson-Flores of Infinity Bio-Energy, with Brian Dean following the presentation of the awards

At the IBC reception held at La Terraza, both recipients were joined by IBC trustees and friends including Mario Fernandez, Guardeaqui; James McDonald, Gunster Yoakley LLP; Ines Calderon, Gateway Florida, Ted Brennan, Tew Cardenas, and Hans Krieg, Green Power Systems.