Minister of State Gernot Erler is travelling to San Francisco today to attend the opening of the Intersolar North America 2009 trade fair. Since its inauguration in Germany in 2000, this event has developed into the world's largest and leading fair on solar energy.

It took place in the US for the first time last year. As Intersolar North America it offers a marketplace for new technologies and processes, thus providing major impetus to the current debates on climate protection and on effective strategies for generating green and sustainable energy.

As well as attending the opening, Minister of State Erler will meet representatives of German institutions in San Francisco such as the Goethe-Institut, the German international school and business associations. He will also conduct talks with representatives of the California and San Francisco Environmental Protection Agencies. These talks will focus on local, regional and global environmental issues.