Remarks as Prepared for Delivery by Under Secretary Albright
Thank you for that kind introduction. I'm pleased to be here in New Delhi - and to be with all of you today.
I'd like to thank the Confederation of Indian Industries for hosting this event and thank you for your hard work towards strengthening India's energy sector.
I would also like to pass along Secretary Bodman's best wishes. Secretary Bodman was in India last year at this time, and was greatly impressed with the innovation, growth and entrepreneurial spirit that is alive and well here.
He understood why the relationship between our 2 nations is so special, and why the people of the U.S. have such deep respect for the people of India. In a nutshell: this nation is a place of seemingly limitless potential.
The Secretary brought this message back to his leadership team in Washington, and asked us to seize on this shared potential and to work hard together towards our shared energy security. We have taken his charge seriously and have worked closely with our Indian counterparts for the last year. Consequently, we have enjoyed another productive round of working group meetings and bilateral talks this week.
As we've met this week, one thing has become ever clearer: we are embarking on a new era of global cooperation, which is essential to our shared energy security. This is a global challenge, perhaps one of the most significant of our time. And so, it must be addressed globally.
Global demand for energy is rising rapidly and will continue to do so. By 2030, we estimate that energy consumption will grow by over 50 percent and 15 percent of that increased demand is expected to come from India alone. For electricity specifically, we estimate that U.S. demand will increase by about 30 percent by 2030, with global demand nearly doubling.
As we confront this rapidly growing demand, we know that our economy, like yours, is highly dependent on fossil fuels, and particularly foreign oil. Adding to this, of course, is that much of the world's fossil fuel supply exists in unstable areas of the world, presenting challenges both for our energy supply and for our countrywide security.
For the U.S. and for India, the scale and scope of this challenge only promises to grow more pressing over time as traditional sources of energy become more stretched and demand continues to grow. The policies that we discuss must lead us collectively towards safe, reliable, clean, affordable and diverse energy supplies. And we must act now if we are to reach this goal. Our future state of energy use demands our immediate action.
In the United States, we are responding by changing the way we drive, the ways we power our homes and businesses, and through the development and use of new technologies and alternative fuels. We are accelerating R&D in coal, solar, wind, nuclear, vehicle technologies and biofuels. We are promoting alternative and renewable sources of energy through fiscal incentives and loan guarantees. We are removing unnecessary regulatory barriers to the expansion and modernization of our energy supply and electric power infrastructure. And we are increasing the energy efficiency of our homes, businesses, cars and trucks.
We are also recognizing that these solutions don't come easily. That is why President Bush created the American Competitiveness Initiative to foster investment in innovation. It expands our federal government's financial commitment while encouraging private sector investment. It supports universities that provide world-class education and research opportunities. We have committed serious amounts of money for serious science in areas such as supercomputing, nanotechnology, advanced nuclear reactor technologies, and fusion energy, as well as for biofuels, wind, solar and coal research and development.
But, we need transformational discoveries-discoveries that fundamentally change the rules of the energy business that we've been operating in for the last fifty years. And that means we need fundamental breakthroughs in basic science. The results of this increased understanding of our physical world - the inventions and products that will change our lives - may not be seen for years or even decades, but the critical investments must be made now.
While pursuing answers to these scientific challenges, we are also carrying out an aggressive strategy to expand the availability of renewable energy and alternative fuels. Through President Bush's Advanced Energy Initiative, we are identifying the technologies that could have the greatest impact on the marketplace in the relatively near future, the next 5-10 years, and then really going after them with increased resources and aggressive timelines.
I'm talking about things like commercially competitive cellulosic ethanol and other cellulosic biofuels; advanced hybrid vehicle technologies; hydrogen fuel cells; solar photovoltaics; and high-efficiency wind power. These are things that are already in the pipeline and will be pushed more quickly to market.
Apart from renewable sources of energy, a major component of any clean energy strategy must be nuclear power. Nuclear power development is a priority for the United States. We've launched the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership to advance safe and emissions-free nuclear power in a way that responsibly manages waste while reducing proliferation risks. We continue in our strong encouragement for India to join us in these efforts after your country has completed the necessary safeguard obligations.
We are rightly placing a great deal of emphasis on renewables and alternative fuels, but we also recognize that our economy - like India's - relies on fossil energy, and will do so for some time. So we must find ways to use fossil fuel more cleanly and efficiently to reduce, and perhaps eliminate, its emissions footprint. One way to do this is through the development of carbon sequestration capacity, which we believe will one day lead to near-zero-emissions coal power production.
In my view, this critical area - along with oil, natural gas and coal-bed methane development - offers several key opportunities for continued and expanded cooperation between our 2 countries. The potential benefits for both our economies - and our environment - are substantial.
Finally, I cannot fail to mention that the biggest source of immediately accessible "new" energy is the energy that we waste every day. I had an opportunity to tour the ITC Green Building yesterday. It looks like a regular building, but it's designed to consume significantly less energy. I believe that enhancements in energy efficiency, like those I saw yesterday, can be achieved - in relatively short order - on a global scale.
I'm pleased that the D.O.E. and USAID have been working closely with the Indian government to develop and deploy energy-efficient technologies and practices. There has been a strong endorsement of these technologies and practices by corporate leadership here in India. Indian business leaders were the 1st to sign on to the World Green Building Council. I was very interested to learn that CII is the managing partner of the India chapter of the GBC. And so, I make this challenge directly to the businesspeople in the room today: let's continue to look for ways to enhance the efficiency of India's industrial, building and power-generating sectors.
And so, we have come together again, bilaterally, to address these issues. Let me say clearly that the U.S. government, from President Bush on down, acknowledges how challenging this work is. There is much to gain, and also much at stake. Each of our nations has its own set of countrywide priorities, domestic political concerns, economic conditions and policy and regulatory frameworks.
I am proud that despite these challenges, our 2 nations continue to march towards the same end goals, bilaterally and multilaterally. We are proud of our shared commitment in the Asia Pacific Partnership and the Major Economies Process.
However, it is not sufficient to leave the entire problem to governments to solve. Real breakthroughs are likely to happen in the private sector. The key to unlocking our energy future is ensuring that the innovation cycle continues at a rapid pace. And to do that, we need everyone involved. India is remarkably well-positioned to contribute to this massive global challenge. So we look forward to working with you to achieve many successes.
President Bush has considered growing and strengthening the United States' bilateral relationship with India to be a top priority. And the work we have accomplished this week, I hope, will make President Bush and President Singh proud of the steps we have taken towards this historic strategic partnership.
Let us continue working together to build to meet demand, research to advance technology, and promote scientifically valid and economically sound solutions to our energy challenges.
Thank you.
