Renewable energy is focus of ASU conference


A wide range of alternative and renewable energy technologies will be discussed at the Arizona Workshop on Renewable Energy, Nov. 17 to 19, at ASU’s Memorial Union on the Tempe campus.

The meeting will cover a wide range of renewable energy technologies, including solar cells, bioenergy, new materials and new ways to store energy. It also will cover technology commercialization, renewable energy education programs and social acceptance of these new technologies.

“Finding and developing sustainable forms of energy represents one of the greatest challenges we face today,” says Stephen Goodnick, ASU’s associate vice president of research and director of the Arizona Institute for Renewable Energy, one of the conference sponsors. “Energy is vital to our economy and our national security, not to mention the health of our planet.”

The aim of the Arizona Workshop on Renewable Energy is to highlight cutting edge research on new renewable sources of energy, to identify barriers to the deployment of renewable energy, and to address the educational needs of training the next generation workforce for an emerging renewable energy industry, added Goodnick.

Specific topics that will be covered include: biofuels from photosynthetic bacteria; holographic concepts and applications for solar energy systems; bio-inspired approaches to solar energy conversion; modeling and simulation of advanced materials for hydrogen storage; high efficiency multi-junction solar cells; renewable technology challenges from a utility perspective; public trust of novel energy systems; and architectural challenges for renewable energy. The workshop also includes sessions on renewable energy education, and the societal issues and impacts to the development of renewable energy.

In addition to the presentations, the conference will include poster sessions, tutorials and vendor exhibits. The meeting is sponsored by ASU’s Arizona Institute for Renewable Energy, the Global Institute of Sustainability, APS, Arizona Department of Commerce, City of Tempe, Green Fuel Solar, NanoVoltaix Inc. and Sol Equity.

For more information, call Rebecca Davis, at (480) 965-5636 or visit http://aire.asu.edu.


Source:
Stephen Goodnick, (480) 965-1225

Media contact: