The January 2007 CERTs Conference, Local Energy/Local Opportunities, featured many knowledgeable speakers who discussed topics from biodiesel to community wind development to green buildings. To view pdfs of the PowerPoint presentations from the conference breakout sessions, please scroll down and click on the titles of different talks. View the conference events page to learn more about past and upcoming conferences.
View an overview of the agenda
Welcome & Opening Plenary Session | 9:00-10:45am
- Welcome – Lola Schoenrich, The Minnesota Project, Energy Program Director & Lissa Pawlisch, UMN RSDP, CERTs Coordinator
- Community Energy, a Clean Energy Future – Alexis Karolides, AIA – Rocky Mountain Institute, Breakthrough Design Team, Principal
- Perspectives on Minnesota’s Clean Energy Future – Don Shelby, WCCO News, Anchor
Five Breakout Sessions | 11:15am-12:15pm
- Community-Wide Energy Efficiency Projects
- Moderator – Okey Ukaga, UMN Northeast RSDP, Executive Director
- Strategies for Community-Wide Energy Efficiency – Judy Thommes, CEE, Marketing Manager
- Winona County Sustainability Effort – Anne Morse, Winona County Environmental Services, Environmental Specialist, Annika Gunderson, Cotter Senior High student & Camille Nicholson, Winona Senior High student
- St. Paul: A History of Action – Anne Hunt, Mayor Chris Coleman’s Office, Deputy Policy Director
- Congregation Energy Projects
- Small-Scale Wind at Home and on Farm
- Biomass Heating Alternatives
- Commercializing New Technology
- Moderator – Jim Steenerson, Northwest Minnesota Foundation, Grants Specialist
- Commercialization of Microgasification Technology – Darren Schmidt, P.E., UND EERC, Research Manager and Certified Energy Manager, Biomass Power
- Use of Biomass Gasification to Replace Natural Gas in a Corn Ethanol Plant – Dan Benson, Chippewa Valley Agrafuels Cooperative, Board of Directors
- Commercializing Research: From the Lab to Steel – Todd Reubold, UMN IREE, Assistant Director
Five Breakout Sessions | 1:15-2:15pm
- Community-Wide Renewable Energy Systems
- Moderator – Dorothy Rosemeier – UMN West Central RSDP, Executive Director
- University of Minnesota Renewable Energy Research and Demonstration Center – Mike Reese, UMN West Central Research & Outreach Center, Director, Renewable Energy
- Renewable Energy Efforts in Kandiyohi County – Wes Hompe, Willmar Municipal Utilities, Staff Electrical Engineer
- Creating a Sustainable Community Energy System in Northfield – Bruce Anderson, Sustainable Community Solutions
- School Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Projects
- Solar, Solar and More Solar
- On-Farm and Community Digesters
Five Breakout Sessions | 2:30-3:30pm
- How to Start a CERT in Your Community
- Moderator – Joel Haskard, UMN RSDP, Assistant CERTs Coordinator
- Making CERTs Local – Marvin Rothfusz, PREACT-McLeod County, Coordinator
- Experiences of a Local CERT – Ward Lutz, OlmCERT, Coordinator
- Local Government Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Projects
- Community Biofuels Projects
- Moderator – Erin Tegtmeier, Experiment in Rural Cooperation, Director
- Biodiesel Microbrewery – Jeffrey Baldridge, Green Range Renewable Energy, Partner
- From Field to Fuel Tank – Kim Odden, Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College, Farm, Business and Production Management Instructor
- Locally Owned Utility-Scale Wind Development
Legislative Forum: Community Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency | 3:40-5:00pm
- Kerri Miller (Moderator) – Host of MPR Midmorning Program & Political Analyst for Fox 9 News
- Senator Ellen Anderson (DFL) District 66, St. Paul
- Representative Al Juhnke (DFL) District 13B, Willmar
- Representative Kathy Tingelstad (R) District 49B, Andover
- Mike Bull – Assistant Commissioner Renewable Energy and Advanced Technologies, Minnesota Department of Commerce