February 7, 2006
News Release 06-03
Brad Peck, Corporate Communications Officer
(509) 377-8247 / 727-2808
RICHLAND, Wash. – The sixth annual Northwest Harvesting Clean Energy Conference will be held Feb. 27-28 at the Red Lion Hotel at the Park in Spokane.
Energy Northwest, an active developer of renewable energy projects and a conference sponsor, will have a booth at the event to share information on its latest environmentally friendly energy projects. The public power agency will also host a biomass workshop for conference participants interested in learning what it takes to develop and manage local biomass projects.
Energy Northwest representative Sandi Edgemon is slated to facilitate a panel discussion at the conference on carbon sequestration technologies and opportunities. The agency is a member of the Big Sky Carbon Sequestration Partnership dedicated to finding environmentally responsible, affordable methods of permanently sequestering carbon dioxide emissions from power plants.
Open to the public, the conference is designed to provide the most up-to-date information on the development of farm-based renewable energy, and to help those interested in alternative sources of energy develop the networking necessary to take these technologies from concept to reality.
In addition, the conference will feature keynote addresses by James Woolsey, former director of the CIA; Tom Dorr, U.S. Department of Agriculture Undersecretary for Rural Development; and Read Smith, an Eastern Washington farmer who is co-chair of a national organization that envisions 25 percent of U.S. energy coming from renewable sources by 2025.
Since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Woolsey has become one of the most influential advocates of developing alternative sources of fuel for national security, as well as highlighting the environmental benefits of shifting from fossil fuels. His kick-off presentation on the morning of Monday, Feb. 27, is titled, “Harvesting Clean Energy, National Security, and the Path to Energy Independence.”
Dorr oversees more than $100 billion in federal loans, grants and technical assistance to rural America, and chairs the agency's new Energy Council. During a Feb. 27 luncheon, he will discuss how USDA programs and authorities fit into a comprehensive energy strategy, and ensure agricultural producers have a place at the table.
Smith is co-chair of the 25x25 Work Group, a grassroots organization that is promoting public/private sector partnerships to spur development of farm-based sources of renewable energy. He will discuss the group’s vision of “America’s Farms, Ranches and Forests: Powering the Future” during a luncheon on Tuesday, Feb. 28.
Climate Solutions, an Olympia-based nonprofit organization, is coordinating the conference with a coalition of farm groups, state and federal agencies and energy providers. The full agenda is available online at www.harvestcleanenergy.org/conference.
To register online, go to www.nwcdc.coop/hcereg.htm, or for more information, call (360) 943-4241. Cost to attend the conference is $50 with advance registration, or $75 after Feb. 6.