even before iree had its official name of theinitiative for renewable energy and the environment, i think we were sort of concernedabout the three c's - that is to say, coming up with communications, coordinations,and collaborations in this field of renewable energy and the environment at this largeand comprehensive university. the opportunities are unique here because of our political climate, the geography of minnesota,and then the capabilities of this wonderful, large, land grant research university. iree has provided next generation science toaccompany minnesota's next generation policies.
renewable, sustainable energy systems need to becreated. they will certainly be created somewhere in the world. it could be china, could be india, it couldbe here in the u.s. or europe. but it seems to me that if minnesota is to enjoythe benefits of innovation and technology development, we need to be out there with avery aggressive research agenda. the analogy to that would be: the medical deviceindustry was born here in minnesota, and as a consequence, every time a medical device,like a pacemaker, is implanted in a patient anywhere in the world, there's at least a smallka-chink in minnesota's economy. another contribution of iree to the state has been
local solutions with global impacts.and i think we have the capacity and have demonstrated it that solutions that make sense in minnesota have significant impacts globally, either economically,environmentally or socially. iree is looked at as a center of gravity for catalyzingresearch in renewable energy. we are going to focus on bioenergy, bio products, solar photovoltaics, etc., but we're alsogoing to work hard on what i call the other side of the equation - that is, conservationand efficient energy utilization, and then really ramping up our efforts in what we callnext generation full-cost accounting.
hopefully we'll help createthe next generation of feedstock, the next generation of fuels, but more importantly, the next generation oftalented minds who can continue to innovate and bring aboutthe solutions that the world desperately requires. it's the students who come here who are educated in the context of this reallyrich research environment, and i think that's going to be the most enduring product fromiree as we look out to the future.