SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- The opportunity is huge for the United States and China to collaborate in clean energy innovation, paving the way for the whole world to benefit, energy experts said at a two-day event in Silicon Valley that ended Saturday.
The 10th U.S.-China Green Energy Summit, themed "Innovative Energy Solutions: Fueling Our Green Future", was hosted by the U.S.-China Green Energy Council.
More than 60 energy experts from the United States and China gathered to share their latest research results and explore solutions to urgent global climate issues.
They discussed such hot topics as battery technology and electric cars, renewable energy and climate change, and energy innovation in smart grid, smart transportation and information technologies.
"The U.S. is leading the clean energy technologies in general, but China has the largest market. So it's a perfect match. I always say it's a match (made) in heaven for the U.S. and China to work together," Robert Wu, chairman and CEO of the U.S.-China Green Energy Council, said.
The collaboration is especially important when the whole world is suffering from extreme weather, he said.
"What people didn't expect to happen 20 or 30 years ago is happening now, which poses an urgent need for the two countries to work together," he added.
"The Chinese Government is willing to experiment (with) many new technologies and give them a chance," Steven Chu, 1997 Nobel laureate and former U.S. secretary of energy, said. "So these pilot programs (in China) are a very important part of applying clean energy technologies."
He agreed with Wu that China is a big market. Though the United States remains a leader in innovation, "there's a huge opportunity for both countries," he said.
"Ten years ago, I don't think artificial intelligence (was) under anyone's radar. So the opportunity is really growing," Robert Weisenmiller, chair of California Energy Commission, said.
People need to look for opportunities across society, he said. Apart from the academia, companies and investors, there's also need for policy cooperation, he added.
"California Governor Jerry Brown and Chinese premier (Li Keqiang) have set (the) vision where to go," he said, referring to Brown's meeting with senior Chinese leaders on climate change during his visit to China last year.
"It's one world. We have to work with each other to address climate change," he said.
