Powering the World with Sunlight An international group of thirty eminent high level chemists from China, Germany, Japan, the UK and the US – including Mary Shultz from Tufts University - met July 23-25, 2009 in Kloster Seeon Germany to discuss challenges and opportunities in meeting world energy needs. the three day event was sponsored by the professional societies and funding agencies of these countries. The U. S. team was funded by the ACS and NSF. As reported in Chemical & Engineering News, the overall purpose was discuss global challenges of the 21st century with the focus on solar energy to power the world: identifying research directions that chemistry needs to take to meet these challenges. Four challenging areas that were discussed included, mimicking photosynthesis, using biomass, creating innovative photovoltaics, and the challenging issue of storing collected energy. The group  will be preparing a white paper to be used by their respective governments to help in planning. Similar meetings focusing on other global issues are planned for the future.