UNC center hosts public forum on sustainable energy, conference on solar power

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Solar Energy Research Center will hold a public forum and information session to explore crucial energy issues of the coming decades.

The free event, “A Sustainable Energy Future - Mapping the Way,” will be Friday, Jan. 15, from 5-9pm at the Friday Center in Chapel Hill.

The presentations will review climate and energy security issues; current research and local and global green technologies and policies; possible future directions; and how societal, policy and commercial efforts could guide such changes. Attendees will have opportunities to ask questions of the presenters.

At 7 p.m., an open panel discussion will assess how the world can shift from using mostly fossil fuels to a future based on more secure and environmentally friendly alternatives. Issues include the current status of such technologies, future energy demands, and political, social, economic and business hurdles.

The panel will feature experts on current and developing energy sources, conservation and efficiency, and politics and public policy. Panel members will include leaders from the environmental, scientific and business communities. Scheduled speakers include Thomas J. Meyer, Ph.D., center director and Arey Professor of Chemistry in the UNC College of Arts and Sciences; John Boyes, manager, energy storage and distributed energy resources, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, N.M.; Tim Toben, chair, North Carolina Energy Policy Council and a principal in green energy and green building ventures including Greenbridge Developments; Chris Clemens, co-founder of MegaWatt Solar and professor of astrophysics at UNC; and Thomas A. Stith III, program director for economic development, Frank Hawkins Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise, Kenan-Flagler Business School.

Refreshments will be provided. For more details, see: www.serc.unc.edu/outreach.pdf.

The forum is part of the center’s second annual scientific conference, which takes place Thursday, Jan. 14 and Friday, Jan. 15.

The symposium, “Solar Fuels and Energy Storage: the Unmet Needs,” will feature a dozen speakers addressing current research into finding better ways to tap and store the sun’s energy, such as converting it into fuels or storing electrical energy for later use. More information and registration details for the conference are at www.serc.unc.edu.

Comments

[Flexible Solar Panels]

Thanks for sharing your point of view!

Glad to know there are others out there who believe renewable energy is essential. I am sure the world will come around eventually but it seems that right now too few of us are truly interested in renewable energy. Hopefully more men and women will come around in time, sooner the much better! Our family has saved a bundle on power costs with solar power up on the roof.