"Put on a blindfold, throw a dart at a calendar, and you’ll probably pierce a date on which an energy conference is being held somewhere around the world.

But while many are more lavishly underwritten, few can match the unbridled enthusiasm of the annual energy fête — entirely organized by students — at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Now in its sixth year, the M.I.T. Energy Conference has established itself as a popular destination for industry wonks, venture capitalists and freelance energy geeks looking for a glimpse into how techno-visionaries hope to solve a daunting problem: providing energy for the planet’s six billion people reliably, affordably and, ideally, without making a mess."

Tom Zeller Jr. reports for the New York Times' Green blog March 5, 2011. [2]