Chu, a 60-year-old Nobel prize winning physicist from Stanford University, came to Washington with a mandate from the president to increase the nation's production of clean, renewable power, make the electric grid more intelligent and improve overall energy efficiency.
The inclusion of food production also points to a broadening of the definition of green tech, which in the past referred more narrowly to technologies such as those for renewable electricity and biofuel production, electric car development and new materials and services that help consumers and businesses use energy more efficiently.