Bill Richardson, Former Governor of New Mexico, Named To Abengoa’s International Advisory Board

Bill Richardson, former Governor of New Mexico, has joined Abengoa’s International Advisory Board, which is chaired by the lecturer Jose Borrel, former President of the European Parliament, and currently comprises six other members with recognized experience and knowledge in the fields of both economics and sustainability.

Richardson has spent his career in U.S. politics, where he has held various positions such as Democratic Party representative, as well as being a member of the House of Representatives for New Mexico (1983-1997) and the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations (1997-1998), a position entrusted to him by former President Bill Clinton who subsequently appointed him as U.S. Secretary of Energy (1998-2001). In 2003, he was elected as Governor of New Mexico, a position that he held until January 1 this year.

He is a supporter of clean and renewable energy, and energy efficiency, and during his time as Secretary of Energy, he implemented tough efficiency standards to save this resource. When he was Governor, he worked to make New Mexico a clean energy state by requiring electricity companies to generate energy from renewable sources and to reduce their carbon emissions.

“We are extremely fortunate to have former Governor Richardson join our Advisory Board. His extensive knowledge of the renewable energy sector and his background in public policy will provide Abengoa with significant insight and help advise our leaders on global opportunities in the clean energy sector,” said Manuel Sanchez Ortega, Chief Executive Officer of Abengoa.

The other members of Abengoa’s International Advisory Board are: the lecturer Mario Molina, winner of the Nobel Prize for Chemistry and professor at the University of California in San Diego; the academic and lecturer, Nicholas Stern, ex Vice-President for economic development and Chief Economist of the World Bank (2000-2003), and he also authored the renowned Stern Review in his role as an economic adviser to Gordon Brown's Government; Jerson Kelman, a researcher and Chairman of the Brazilian electricity company Light; the lecturer Ricardo Hausmann, Director of the Centre for International Development at Harvard University; Pamposh Bhat, an expert on climate change and renewable energy; and Kemal Dervis, Turkey’s former Minister of Economic Affairs and Vice-chairman of the Brookings Institution.

Abengoa recently started the construction of its Solana project near Gila Bend, Arizona. Solana will be the largest concentrated solar power plant in the world, including energy storage. Additionally, Abengoa is the fifth largest biofuels producer in the U.S., and this year, it will begin the construction of its first commercial cellulosic ethanol plant in the United States, which will be located in Hugoton, Kansas.