Alexander 'Andy' Karsner
Assistant Secretary
Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
Department of Energy
Alexander "Andy" Karsner was unanimously confirmed by the Senate as Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) on March 16, 2006 and sworn-in by Secretary of Energy Samuel W. Bodman on March 23, 2006.
Assistant Secretary Karsner manages the Department of Energy's (DOE) $1.17 billion EERE office, which promotes the development and marketplace integration of renewable and environmentally sound energy technologies, as well as the preservation and efficient use of our nation's valuable resources. Assistant Secretary Karsner also helps lead DOE's efforts to carry out the Advanced Energy Initiative (AEI), announced by President Bush in his 2006 State of the Union address, which aims to accelerate breakthroughs in the way we power our cars, homes, and businesses.
Previously, Assistant Secretary Karsner served in the private sector on a wide range of technologies including heavy fuel oil, distillates, natural gas, coal, wood waste/biomass, wind energy and distributed generation based upon renewable technologies. He has been responsible for and taken part in large-scale power projects in North America, Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa, including unprecedented projects structuring in the Philippines and Pakistan.
In 2002, Assistant Secretary Karsner led his company, Enercorp, to win a global competition to develop the world's largest private wind farm outside the United States at that time. He has worked with Tondu Energy Systems of Texas, Wartsila Power Development of Finland, and prominent multinational energy firms and developers including ABB of Sweden, RES of the UK, Tacke of Germany (now known as GE Wind), and Vestas of Denmark.
Assistant Secretary Karsner also worked on behalf of the International Protocol for Hydrogen Economy, participating in meetings and ministerials to advance the President's agenda for a new energy economy. He has played an integral role in arranging DOE's US-Morocco bilateral protocols for clean energy policy. Mr. Karsner is currently co-leading the Department's support for the Asia Pacific Pact to address global emissions with market-based mechanisms. Assistant Secretary Karsner graduated with honors from Rice University; and received an MA from Hong Kong University; Mr. Karsner resides with his wife and family in Virginia.