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The programme outlined by US President George Bush will require the best scientists and the best engineers, said US Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman noting that many of these individuals are to be found, not in the United States, but in India.

"It is my hope that our two countries can cooperate on these projects as well, as we are on the ITER (an international fusion energy project) and on FutureGen, to bring them to fruition that much sooner," he said at the US National Academies of Science' US-India Conference in Washington Friday.

India-US cooperation, Bodman said, will do much to enhance energy security for the two countries because it promotes the development of stable and efficient energy markets and will enhance the research and development of alternative energy sources already underway.

India, he noted, will be playing a very important role in harnessing fusion as an inexhaustible source of pollution-free energy for the world as New Delhi has joined the other six parties to the international ITER agreement, initialled in Brussels in May.

America, Bodman said, would also welcome India's collaboration on the development of the proposed International Linear Collider (ILC), which would make possible new discoveries in particle physics. The US intended ILC to be designed, funded, managed and operated as a fully international scientific project.

As part of cooperation under the India-US Agreement on Science and Technology 2005, Washington hopes to encourage India's decision to join the FutureGen international partnership to create a zero emissions coal-fired power plant that will produce hydrogen and sequester carbon dioxide below ground.

"We especially appreciate India's agreement to participate in the FutureGen steering committee, its commitment to participate in the FutureGen Industry Alliance and its pledge of 10 million dollars to the project, 2.2 million of which has already been donated," Bodman said.

The US is also working together to bring India into the Integrated Ocean Drilling Programme and to cooperate on efforts to study methane hydrates. India's effort in this regard will make use of Department of Energy-owned technology and will include many US researchers, allowing it to accelerate commercial utilization of hydrates in the United States and around the world.

The US-India Energy Dialogue has led to the creation of five working groups that are showing great progress, Bodman noted.

The Civil Nuclear Energy Working Group has already held one joint technical workshop to advance the dialogue between the two countries and a second workshop will take place in the United States later this year.

The Power and Energy Efficiency Working Group is working to establish avenues for technology cooperation on industrial and building energy efficiency. Uunder consideration is a proposed strategic partnership between India's National Thermal Power Corporation and the Department of Energy's National Energy Technology Laboratory to advance the development of clean and efficient power generation.

Under its auspices, together with the US Agency for International Development and the General Electric Company, a public-private partnership has been formed to increase access to clean and affordable energy services and provide up to four rural communities in India with access to clean energy over the next two years.

Also, last month an energy efficiency conference was held in New Delhi that included significant participation of government representatives and the business communities of both countries. Bodman hoped that this conference will spur business partnerships that will result in new technologies being applied to save energy, both in India and the United States.

The Coal Working Group has also accomplished much, including the creation of a high level work plan identifying priority projects thetwo countries will pursue over the next two years. These projects include pursuing investment opportunities and information exchange in the areas of coal mining and processing, coal mine safety and in situ coal gasification.

The Oil and Gas Working Group held a one day government-to-government workshop in New Delhi last month on developing a regulatory framework for natural gas and is exploring ways to involve the US-India business community.

It has also arranged for several memoranda of understanding between the two governments on information exchange, operational safety, inspection issues and accident investigations of offshore oil and gas operations related to both drilling and production.

The New Technology and Renewable Energy Working Group is also sponsoring meetings between the two governments to discuss potential areas of collaboration, including solar power generation, low wind speed technology research & development and renewable energy resources.