TRACK 6:
Large-Scale Clean Energy Production
We create industries that provide for the future. We are driven to discover and produce working sources of clean energy that demonstrate our respect for renewable resources.
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SESSIONS |
Exposing the Myths
Wednesday 11:00-12:30
Opponents of wind projects often have "factual" sounding sound bites for arguments. Its time to refute those arguments with real "facts. During this session, participants will learn factual information about renewable energy, see how well arguments for fossil fuels stack up, and dispel some of the myths. This session will involve all participants in an interactive game of Jeopardy. Participants will be testing each other's knowledge of renewable energy facts and myths.
Session Chair:
Kristen Burke, Massachusetts Technology Collaborative
Session Speaker:
Jean Clements, Massachusetts Technology Collaborative
Wednesday Sessions | Top of Page
Barriers to Wind Development in the Northeast
Wednesday 2:00-3:30
Where are the wind turbines? There have turned out to be several reasons why it's hard to get wind turbines approved and erected in New England. This session will bring together individuals working on wind energy for a wide-ranging panel discussion of the barriers to development and solutions for overcoming those barriers. There will be plenty of opportunity for questions and ideas from the audience.
Session Chair:
Warren Leon, PhD, Massachusetts Technology Collaborative
Session Speakers:
Sally Wright, University Massachusetts Renewable Energy Research Lab
Harley Lee, Endless Energy Corporation
Sam Cleaves, Metropolitan Area Planning Council
Nancy Nylen, Center for Ecological Technology
Richard Lawrence, Cape and Islands Self Reliance
Lefteris Pavlides, PhD, AIA, Roger Williams University
Brian F. Keane, SmartPower
Jeff Petersen, NYSERDA
Wednesday Sessions | Top of Page
Hull 2-Wind and Landfills: First Utility Scale Installation in US
Wednesday 4:00-5:30
Hull 2 is the 1.8 MW Vestas turbine installed on a sealed landfill in Hull, Massachusetts by the Hull Municipal Light Department (HMLP). HMLP has been the leader in municipal utility efforts to harness wind. John MacLeod, Manager, HMLD will review the public process used for a second turbine, site selection, environmental issues raised and addressed, the RFP process, and current status James Manwell, Director, Renewable Energy Research Lab, UMass, will review technical support provided.
Session Chair:
Richard Michaud, Northeast Regional Office, US Department of Energy
Session Speakers:
John MacLeod, Hull Municipal Light Department
James Manwell, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Wednesday Sessions | Top of Page
Big Wind and Electric Grids: Results of Integrating Intermittent Resources
Thursday 8:30-10:30
With increasingly expensive and volatile fuel costs, and increasing concern for the global environment due to ongoing use of non-renewable resources for electric generation, can other resources – such as the wind -- provide a solution? Join us in discussion as our presenters review evidence from around the world and recount actual grid-wide impacts on emissions, reliability and operations from the addition of significant generating capacity from intermittent resources. This session is aimed at energy professionals, policy-makers, project developers and advocates who are trying to gain a better understanding of just what our future choices and tradeoffs entail.
Session Chair:
Quincy Vale, PowerHouse Enterprises, Inc.
Session Speakers:
Stephen R. Connors, MIT Laboratory For Energy And The Environment (LFEE)
Robert B. Burke, ISO-New England
Offshore Wind Energy Potential
Thursday 10:30-12:00
While New Englanders face record energy prices this winter from imported oil and natural gas, there lies a vast and clean energy source off our shores. There is 900,000 megawatts of offshore wind potential in the US with the best potential offshore the northeast according to the new Offshore Wind Framework recently released by the US Department of Energy, GE, and MTC. This workshop will describe ways that New England can harness its most abundant renewable energy resource.
Session Chair:
Gregory C. Watson, Massachusetts Technology Collaborative
Session Speakers:
Gregory C. Watson, Massachusetts Technology Collaborative
Mark Rodgers, Cape Wind
Benjamin Bell, GE Wind Energy, LLC
Utility-Scale Renewables: Alternatives to Traditional Energy Production and Distribution
Thursday 2:00-3:30
Electric and natural gas networks and central energy facilities played critical roles in meeting energy growth needs of the last century. But an urgent, rapid transition to renewable energy is beginning: It will rely on regional/local energy resources, some at the neighborhood, even building scale. New technologies are needed for controlling, converting, storing, and distributing this energy, but so are institutional, even cultural changes. This session reviews promising technologies, and requisite cultural and institutional innovation.
Session Chair:
Robert H. Murray, LEED AP, GreenHomes Northeast
Session Speakers:
Brad Bradshaw, Velerity (and Founder/President, Massachusetts Hydrogen Coalition)
Robert H. Murray, LEED AP, GreenHomes Northeast
Long Island NY Off-Shore Wind Park
Thursday 4:00-5:30
We in the Northeast have truly been fortunate to host two pioneering efforts to successfully harness wind energy off of our shores. Cape Wind, the first project, defined the challenge of off-shore wind development in the U.S. and caught the Nation’s attention and imagination. This session will explore the “other” active off-shore wind farm project in the Northeast, and highlight the differences from a utility, engineering and consumer orientation/outreach perspective.
Session Chair:
Richard C. Michaud, Northeast Regional Office, US DOE
Session Speakers:
Daniel W. Zaweski, Long Island Power Authority
"Coke” Coakley, Florida Power and Light Energy
Gordian Raacke, Renewable Energy Long Island