College to Host Panel Discussion on Wind Energy and the Power Grid
The School of Engineering at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, will host a panel discussion about wind energy as its next Engineering Speaker Series presentation.
Titled “Wind Energy: Outlook, Opportunities and Impact on the Power Grid,” the panel discussion will be held on Thursday, Nov. 5, at 6:00 p.m. in the Samuel P. “Pat” Black III Conference Center, located on the first floor of the college’s Research and Economic Development Center (REDC). Hors d’oeuvres will be served beginning at 5:30 p.m. Parking is available in the REDC parking deck or in the Junker Center lot.
The presentation is free and open to the public, but reservations are required. Please RSVP to 814-898-6153 by Monday, Nov. 2.
The three panelists will be Katie Feeney, global warming policy analyst for the Clean Air Council and consultant for the Natural Resources Defense Council in Pennsylvania; Tim Vought, senior project developer for Gamesa Energy USA; and Laura Jackson, chairperson of Save Our Allegheny Ridges.
Feeney will discuss the current and future state of the power grid as well as how federal energy legislation could create a greater market for wind and, in turn, new job opportunities. Vought will discuss wind energy as a business from the perspective of a large wind turbine manufacturer. Jackson will present the impact of wind energy in our daily lives.
Dr. Robert Weissbach, associate professor of engineering at Penn State Behrend, will serve as moderator. He will oversee a question and answer session following the panel’s presentations.
“Wind energy is an attractive renewable energy source,” Weissbach said. “The cost to produce energy using wind turbines is now comparable to that of coal and nuclear power.” The federal government hopes to have wind energy produce 20 percent of the nation’s electricity by 2030.
The Engineering Speaker Series is an annual outreach program of the School of Engineering at Penn State Behrend. For more information about the wind energy panel discussion, call 814-898-6153.