Apr 10 - Albuquerque Journal

New Mexico has a reputation as a leader in renewable energy both inside and outside the United States.

That recognition helped bring representatives of seven alternative energy companies from the United Kingdom to Albuquerque this week as part of a three-city tour seeking to promote products, exchange ideas and form business partnerships.

The group included a wind farm maintenance company, two companies that turn animal and forest waste into energy, two solar power companies, a hydrogen technology product developer, and a wind and solar components supplier.

They presented products and services and met with local renewable energy companies such as Advent Solar during a one-day program at the Convention Center.

The group chose New Mexico because of its "reputation as a leader in renewable energy," said the Houston-based United Kingdom Consul General Judith Slater, who spoke at the Convention Center.

Slater helped steer the U.K. Department of Trade and Industry's Renewable Energy Trade Promotion Service to include Albuquerque in its U.S. tour.

"The contacts and exchange of ideas they can make in a setting like this are incredibly important," said Lindsey Bartlett, U.K. vice consul in Houston.

The tour included Austin, Albuquerque and, next week, the Power- Gen power industry exhibition and trade show in Las Vegas, Nev.

Slater said New Mexico was a logical part of the tour because of the tax incentives that promote investment in renewable energy sources such as wind and solar and a state law that requires utilities to use renewable energy.

"New Mexico is a state that understands these things," she said, acknowledging efforts by Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chvez and Gov. Bill Richardson to promote clean energy.

Chvez and Richardson, who spoke at the opening of the program, were enthusiastic about new business ties between New Mexico and U.K. companies.

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