A Greener Energy Pa$ture for Virginia?s Economy

UPDATE:  Most of the breakout session presentations have been loaded to the site.  Please check out the agenda.

Landfill Gas to Energy Workshop presentations, as well as the Offshore Wind Power Workshop are now available.

Join us for our inaugural energy conference on the post of the historic Virginia Military Institute located in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley at Lexington, Virginia. 

If you are a college student interested in attending, the fee is $25, and $100 for college and university faculty. If you would like to attend please contact Sarah Myers.

Our dynamic list of speakers include:

Mr. James Woolsey, Vice-President and Officer of Booz Allen Hamilton's Global Resilience practice.  A former Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, Mr. Woolsey is confirmed to speak on Energy, Security, and the Long War of the 21^st Century.

Mr. Woolsey's speech will be open to the public.  Wednesday October 18th 5:00 p.m. in Jackson Memorial Hall.

The author of the Virginia Energy Bill, Senator Frank W. Wagner will discuss future energy opportunities and challenges confronting the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Secretary of Natural Resources L. Preston Bryant Jr. and Secretary of Commerce and Trade Patrick O. Gottschalk will address the attendees at lunch on Wednesday.

Five separate tracks will run concurrently on Tuesday and Wednesday.  Breakout topics within the tracts include:

Track 1 - Utilities and Infrastructure  

1. Electric Utilities - Finding a Balance between Markets & Regulation session process

2. Mimicking Texas Electric Utilities - Texas Electricity and TXU Energy Deregulation Lowers Prices

3. Avoiding Transmission Bottlenecks:  Developing a 21st Century Grid

4. Investing in Natural Gas Infrastructure:  What does Virginia Need?

Track 2 - Efficient Buildings for Virginia

1. Next Generation Technologies and Practices

2. High Performance Design for Commercial Buildings

3. High Performance Design for Residential Buildings

4. Integrating Energy Management and Security into an EMS/Security Management System Program

Track 3 - Fossil Fuel Technologies

1. Developments in Coal- Based Generation

2. Virginia Off-shore Oil & Gas Exploration - What is the Potential?

3. Mining Coal in Virginia: Present and Future Opportunities

4. Coal Bed Methane Resources:  Development, Production, and Distribution Issues

Track 4 - Alternative Energy Strategies

1. Opportunities for Wind Power in Virginia

2. Challenges for Wind Power in Virginia

3. Is an RPS the Answer for Virginia?

4. Is a New Nuclear Power Plant Feasible in Virginia?

Track 5 - Transportation, Biofuels, Coal

1. Developing a Biofuels Industry in Virginia

2. Municipal Solid Waste to Energy - Opportunities and Potential in Virginia

3. Research in Biomass-to-Energy Advances

4. Alternative Fuels and Advanced Technology Vehicles

Concurrent session details can be found in the agenda.
 

Other important speakers include our opening speaker, Dr. David Dismukes, who will discuss Global & U.S. Energy issues. 

Dr. Kenneth Rose will provide a National Perspective on Electric Utility Restructuring.  Dr. Rose is a Senior Fellow of the Institute of Public Utilities at Michigan State University.

Professor Jonathan J. Miles, PhD will discuss Sustainable Energy Opportunities and Challenges for Virginia. 

Speaking on Coal and Energy Opportunities and Challenges for Virginia will be Professor Michael Karmis, PhD.  Dr. Karmis is the Director of the Virginia Center for Coal and Energy Research at Virginia Tech.

The Business Development Manager for GE's Global Research and Development program, Mr. Eliot F. Assimakopoulos, will discuss how their Ecomagination Initiative is turning vision into reality by creating opportunities in achieving a sustainable future.

From The Pew Center on Global Climate Change will be Ms. Vicki Arroyo.  Ms. Arroyo's presentation will be Towards a Climate-Friendly Energy Policy.

* Finally, an intensive Landfill Gas to Energy Workshop will will be available to all attendees on Thursday, October 19th.  If you are interested in attending just the workshop, e-mail Justin Spears.

For more information on the program, please see our agenda.

Speakers