Web exclusive posted Dec. 18, 2007, at 11:56 a.m. CST

Building on the successes of previous international renewable energy conferences-the first in Bonn, Germany, in 2004, and the second in Beijing, China, in 2005-the 2008 Washington International Renewable Energy Conference will be the third installment of a global ministerial-level conference series.

WIREC 2008 will be held at the Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C., on March 4-6. The event will also include a business conference. According to Jim Brownlee, USDA spokesman for WIREC, 2,000 people from more than 80 countries are expected to attend the ministerial portion, and an additional 3,000 are estimated to attend the business conference and trade show. The American Council on Renewable Energy is the lead organizer of the event, but the U.S. government is in charge of the ministerial portion.

Three years have passed since the Beijing show, and Brownlee said the U.S. government wondered why. "It's not like the Olympics, where you know it will be held every four years," he said. "The renewable energy world is not so organized. There wasn't another country that stepped forward to host it until the United States did." At press time, the speakers list hadn't been released.

The 2008 WIREC will focus on four themes: renewable energy market adoption and deployment, renewable energy development financing, technical research and development, and agriculture and rural development. One hundred official side events are scheduled, as well. "The U.S. government is obviously excited about the potential of renewable energy related to climate change and reducing greenhouse gases," Brownlee said. "[The] 2008 WIREC is the best opportunity for the best minds in the world to come together in one place to try and make some headway."