Panel Moderated by WIRED Magazine's Thomas Goetz Will Reflect on Fundamental Challenges Of a Sustainable Energy Future in Long Beach, CA

Midland, MI - February 22, 2012

As societies consider changing to a sustainable energy future, more emphasis will be on pursuing renewable energy sources, smart grids and electric vehicles that reduce reliance on fossil fuels and lower greenhouse gas emissions. Accompanying this energy future is a rising demand for advanced energy storage solutions. With this need in focus, The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE: DOW) will convene an expert panel discussion at TED 2012, on February 28, in Long Beach, CA, to discuss the role of innovation in meeting the challenges of our collective energy future.

The panel, titled Putting Energy in its Place: How Better Design & Better Batteries Can Lead to a Better Future, will address the issue of long-term energy storage to meet the world's evolving energy consumption needs. Under the moderation of Thomas Goetz, executive editor for WIRED Magazine, David Klanecky, senior business director for Dow Energy Materials, Mitchell Joachim, associate professor at New York University (NYU) and co-founder of Terreform ONE, and Clay Phillips, director of technology and energy intelligence at General Motors, will explore the ways in which energy can be most efficiently transmitted, distributed and stored to meet the demand for energy globally.

"The challenges presented by our energy future are very real, and they will require more than new alternative energy sources to solve them," said Klanecky, who leads the recently-launched Dow Energy Materials, a global business unit that harnesses Dow's materials science, manufacturing, global marketing and R&D strengths to meet today's energy storage challenges. "Through thoughtful discussion in events, such as TED, we are working to harness creativity and innovation to solve increasingly complex global challenges."

The panel will discuss the human-energy interface, where the abstractions of policy meet the realities of infrastructure. Discussion will focus on how we consume energy in our cities (which consume 70 percent of the world's energy) and how we use our vehicles (which consume 1/3 of fuel), and will spotlight new advances in material science that can answer these fundamental challenges of a sustainable energy future.

TED 2012, the theme of which is "Full Spectrum", will mark the third consecutive year of Dow's active participation as corporate member of the TED community - a distinct forum for innovative think tanks from different disciplines and areas of expertise from all over the world to discuss relevant topics that can drive positive changes to our planet. Dow's involvement is another important step in the Company's commitment to develop innovative material science technologies through chemistry to solve some of society's most pressing challenges, including the world's growing need for clean energy solutions.

About Dow

Dow (NYSE: Dow) combines the power of science and technology to passionately innovate what is essential to human progress. The Company connects chemistry and innovation with the principles of sustainability to help address many of the world's most challenging problems such as the need for clean water, renewable energy generation and conservation, and increasing agricultural productivity. Dow's diversified industry-leading portfolio of specialty chemical, advanced materials, agrosciences and plastics businesses delivers a broad range of technology-based products and solutions to customers in approximately 160 countries and in high growth sectors such as electronics, water, energy, coatings and agriculture. In 2011, Dow had annual sales of $60 billion and employed approximately 52,000 people worldwide. The Company's more than 5,000 products are manufactured at 197 sites in 36 countries across the globe. References to "Dow" or the "Company" mean The Dow Chemical Company and its consolidated subsidiaries unless otherwise expressly noted. More information about Dow can be found at www.dow.com.

About TED

TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. Started as a four-day conference in California 25 years ago, TED has grown to support those world-changing ideas with multiple initiatives. The annual TED Conference invites the world's leading thinkers and doers to speak for 18 minutes. Their talks are then made available, free, at TED.com. TED speakers have included Bill Gates, Al Gore, Jane Goodall, Elizabeth Gilbert, Sir Richard Branson, Nandan Nilekani, Philippe Starck, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Isabel Allende and former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown. The annual TED Conference takes place each spring in Long Beach, California, along with the TEDActive simulcast in Palm Springs; the annual TEDGlobal conference is held each summer in Edinburgh, Scotland.

TED's media initiatives include www.TED.com, where new TEDTalks are posted daily, the Open Translation Project, which provides subtitles and interactive transcripts as well as the ability for any TEDTalk to be translated by volunteers worldwide, and TEDBooks, short e-books by speakers that elaborate on a single idea originally presented on TED's stage. TED has established the annual TED Prize, where exceptional individuals with a wish to change the world are given the opportunity to put their wishes into action; TEDx, which offers individuals or groups a way to host local, self-organized events around the world, and the TED Fellows program, helping world-changing innovators from around the globe to become part of the TED community and, with its help, amplify the impact of their remarkable projects and activities.


For Editorial Information:

Fernão Silveira
The Dow Chemical Company
+1 989 638 1006

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