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College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences

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Interested in Renewable Energy? Nov. 8 Workshop in Wooster Has It All

October 10, 2012

WOOSTER, Ohio -- Wind farms. Solar power. Biogas. Ohio is starting to embrace renewable energy. And you will have a chance to learn more about the opportunities and challenges of green energy generation Nov. 8 on the Wooster campus of Ohio State University's Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC).

The 2012 Renewable Energy Workshop will be held from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at OARDC's Fisher Auditorium, 1680 Madison Ave., Wooster. Afternoon activities include tours of Wooster area green energy companies and projects.

Registration (including lunch and materials) costs $40 before Nov. 2 and $50 after that date. The cost for college students is $20. To register, fill out the form available on the workshop’s brochure, downloadable at http://go.osu.edu/Pks or contact Mary Wicks, 330-202-3533, wicks.14@osu.edu.

"Our speakers this year include OARDC researchers and OSU Extension specialists involved in various renewable energy projects, representatives from green energy companies, and representatives from businesses that have decided to include a renewable energy component in their operations," said Yebo Li, an OARDC biosystems engineer who specializes in renewable energy, fuel and products. 

Morning presentations include:

  • "Bio-based Energy Opportunities and Challenges," Li.
  • "Case Study: CNG (compressed natural gas) for Vehicles," Clemens Halene, vice president, quasar energy group. 
  • "Wind Energy: Opportunities and Challenges," Eric Romich, energy development specialist, OSU Extension.
  • "Case Study: Wind for Power," Greg Courtney, Wind Turbines of Ohio.
  • "Solar Energy: Opportunities and Challenges," John Drouchard and Barry Romich, Wayne County Sustainable Energy Network; Fred Michel, biosystems engineer, OARDC.
  • "Case Study: Solar for Power," Roger Geiser, G&S Titanium.

After lunch, workshop participants will tour three locations:

  • G&S Titanium, which in March 2012 installed a 65-kW solar array at its Wooster plant.
  • Cedar Lane Farms, home of an open-pond algae pilot project for production of biofuels and bioproducts. Funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, the project is a collaboration between West Virginia-based Touchstone Research Laboratory and OARDC.
  • quasar energy group, a Cleveland-based company that produces biogas for energy and fuel. The company operates a 550,000-gallon anaerobic digester at OARDC that provides more than a third of the campus' energy needs.

For more information, contact Li at 330-263-3855 or li.851@osu.edu.


OARDC and OSU Extension are the research and outreach arms, respectively, of Ohio State's College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.

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Author(s): 
Mauricio Espinoza
Source(s): 
Yebo Li