The Mississippi Biomass and Renewable Energy Council (MBREC) will hold the 13th Annual Southern BioProducts and Renewable Energy Conference Thursday, November 13, 2014, from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. at the Trent Lott Center on the University of Southern Mississippi (USM) campus in Hattiesburg.
The theme of this year’s conference is “Innovations in Clean Energy” and how this sector is leading to economic development and job growth. Interest is at an all-time high in generating energy from no or low carbon-emitting sources. In addition to natural gas, nuclear and clean coal, there are a host of choices available to the industry and consumers that not only produce clean energy, but can also be economical when strategically implemented. The push to do more with each unit of energy consumed is resulting in significant financial savings in nearly every sector of the economy, ranging from manufacturing and automotive to agriculture, health care and education.
Conference participants will learn about innovative technologies in energy efficiency, biomass, solar energy, and combined heat and power and will discover how to finance such projects through a variety of sources. Utility personnel from Entergy and Mississippi Power will discuss energy efficiency programs designed to save customers money, and experts will discuss hot policy issues, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed clean energy plan and net metering. Shelby Thames, Ph.D, world-renowned polymer scientist and former president of USM, will deliver a keynote presentation addressing the need for innovation and his research on bio-polymers. Additional activities will include the announcement of the 2nd Annual Sustainable Energy Visionary Leader (VISER) Award recipient, a student research poster competition with cash prizes, and a display by the “world’s most winningest solar racecar” from Houston, Mississippi.
Registration, which includes breakfast and lunch, is $95 for MBREC members and $125 for non-members. Seating is limited. Sponsorship opportunities are still available for this excellent networking event. Visit www.ms-biomass.org or contact Sumesh Arora, Ph.D., executive advisor of MBREC and vice president of Innovate Mississippi, at 601-960-3659 or sarora@innovate.ms for more information.
MBREC was created in 1998 and incorporated in 2000 as a nonprofit corporation with the mission to increase energy efficiency and economic opportunities for Mississippi’s biomass and renewable energy resources. MBREC is managed by Innovate Mississippi, a nonprofit organization with the mission to drive innovation and technology-based economic development for the State of Mississippi.
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