Department of Energy Responds Swiftly to Open Government Directive

Secretary Chu, of the U.S. Department of Energy, announced last Wednesday, December 9^th, that the department will be launching www.openEI.org. This website is an open source web platform that will have the department’s data and resources accessible to the public. The launch of this website is in response to the new open government directive. The website is on a wiki-platform, so it can be edited and is free and available to everyone including the private sector, government officials, and anyone who wants to use clean energy technology in the U.S, as well as around the world.

According to Secretary Chu, “This information platform will allow people across the globe to benefit from the Department of Energy’s clean energy data and technical resources. The true potential of this tool will grow with the public’s participation – as they add new data and share their expertise – to ensure that all communities have access to the information they need to broadly deploy the clean energy resources of the future.”

Right now the website has more than 60 different clean energy data sets and resources. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory and other National Laboratories are working together to develop the web platform.