The Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) Summit started on Monday, attracting thousands of investors, entrepreneurs, and policymakers vying to reinvent the energy infrastructure to be cleaner and more efficient. At the conference, scientists and entrepreneurs will be showing off early stage clean tech ideas, such as kinetic energy storage systems and methods for low cost solar power. Attendees are convinced that clean energy industries – from algae fuels to efficient LED lighting – will be the economic growth in the future.

In general, entrepreneurs and green tech investors believe that putting a price on carbon emissions will act as an incentive for businesses to develop low-carbon energy. Many also argue that utility regulations need to change so that all utilities have an incentive to use energy more efficiently. Meanwhile, financing remains a challenge for many green tech startups because many businesses require hundreds of millions of dollars to produce their products at scale.

The ARPA-E agency was first funded last year with a $400 million budget with the goal of nurturing breakthrough energy technologies. ARPA-E Director Arun Majumdar said the agency is structured to yield “home runs” by focusing research in different areas, such as grid storage or carbon capture and storage, which can be developed within the next three to five years.

In my opinion, the success of early companies such as Tesla Motors, A123 Systems, and solar firm Solyndra show that new technologies are penetrating the market faster than many would have predicted five to eight years ago. But to make a large-scale impact, the industry still needs a handful of enduring success stories. I think we need a moment as a nation when a company goes public and its potential and success infects the average American, so that there’s a change in attitude toward this market.

View a previously written post by Mouli Cohen about clean technologies