Washington (Platts)--22May2013/344 pm EDT/1944 GMT

The Obama administration should be pushing hard for the development of renewable energy technologies even as the ongoing US gas boom makes them less economically competitive, the new head of the Department of Energy said Wednesday.

"This is the time to get those ready for the marketplace on a big scale," DOE Secretary Ernest Moniz said during a town hall forum with DOE employees.

Moniz said he would like to see more development of solar and wind technologies, as well as so-called "forgotten renewables," such as geothermal systems and small hydropower.

He said that now was the time to develop these technologies, since domestic natural gas supplies were abundant, prices remained low and the increased use of gas has at least partially contributed to lowered carbon dioxide pollution.

Moniz, who was sworn in as secretary on Tuesday, said he was focused on an energy efficiency demand-side agenda, which would include finalizing new appliance standards, increasing the use of energy performance contracts for federal buildings and implementing standards in the manufacturing sector.

--Brian Scheid, brian.scheid@platts.com --Edited by Derek Sands, derek.sands@platts.com

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