Ann Arbor event asks how Michigan can capitalize on plug-in hybrids

Leaders in automotive research, public policy, venture capital and business will discuss plug-in electric vehicles and what they might mean for the future of Michigan.

The program, called TechKnow Forum 2008: ReCharging Michigan, is slated for this Thursday afternoon on the campus of the University of Michigan (UM).

Energy independence has become a central theme in this year’s presidential campaign and an increasing number of Americans are coming to the conclusion that we must wean ourselves from foreign oil.

When, several months ago, Al Gore first announced his aggressive 10-year challenge to get America off of fossil fuels, it was seen in many sectors as being impossible. Now, however, with Barack Obama having endorsed the challenge and with McCain making renewables a key component of his campaign, it seems as though, whoever wins, there will be a tremendous push to change the status quo in 2009.

The questions is: Can we produce enough alternative energy for the needs of America and move it around the grid reliably and efficiently?

In the interim, changes to sectors like transportation and agriculture will be significant.

Without ready access to cheap oil, the trend toward mass transportation will likely grow along with the demand for more efficient personal vehicles that run on electricity. Among other things, plug-ins will likely require a new fueling/charging infrastructure to be constructed throughout the United States. This will be a massive undertaking, as will be the necessary upgrading of the American electrical grid.

Michigan, given its automotive history and active research in such areas as renewable energy and electricity transmission, should be a key player.

The event includes such notable guests as John Denniston, partner at venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB); David Cole, chairman of the Center for Automotive Research; Nancy Gioia, director of Sustainable Mobility Technologies and Hybrid Vehicle Programs at Ford Motor Company; David Kiley, senior correspondent at Business Week; along with several noted UM faculty members, and others at the forefront of the movement to bring plug-in hybrids to market and build an electricity infrastructure (smart grid) robust enough to make it possible.

A full list of participants and their bios is here.

It seems to be the intent of Thursday’s forum to start laying the groundwork so that we can begin working in a coordinated fashion to envision a post-oil future, to set design standards and ultimately to draft a transition plan.

Tickets are available online. Five dollars from each ticket sold will go toward funding scholarships for students wishing to work at Michigan-based green technology companies through the UM student entrepreneurship organization MPowered.

Keynote presenter John Denniston, a co-founder of the Greentech Investment Initiative, was recently profiled along with Al Gore and other KPCB Greentech Initiative partners, in a New York Times Magazine cover story, which can be found here.