Kentucky Energy Summit - The Wrap Up
The CAER recently held a momentous event. In celebration of the lab's 30th anniversary, we held a day-long energy summit for the public on October 11th, followed by a dinner that evening for the staff, founders, and longtime friends of the center.
The day began with a welcome from University of Kentucky Provost, Kumble Subbaswamy. This was followed by opening remarks by state and federal legislative supporters, Robbie Rudolph (Secretary of the Governor's Executive Cabinet); Kentucky State Representative Rocky Adkins, who also served as Master of Ceremonies; and U.S. Senator Jim Bunning.
Afterwards, the day's tone was set by Ken Nemeth, of the Southern State's Energy Board, who provided an enlivening talk on our nation's resources and the future. The rest of the day's presentations were broad in scope. They included:
- Jim Cobb, Director of the Kentucky Geological Survey and State Geologist
Coal Research and Development to Support a National Energy Policy - Philip Gibson, Sasol Technology Research & Development, Manager Fischer-Tropsch Catalysis Research
Coal to Liquids at Sasol - Anne Korin, Co-Director, Institute for the Analysis of Global Security (IAGS)
Oil, National Security, and What We Can Do About It - Kevin Billings, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Air Force, Environment, Safety and Occupational Health
Fuel Use and Security in the Military - Nathan Lewis, Professor of Chemistry, California Institute of Technology
Challenges in Sustainable Energy - Jim Dooley, Senior Staff Scientist, Joint Global Change Research Institute
Carbon Capture - Kristy Allman-Monk, Environmental Public Policy Specialist, American Electric Power
Protecting the Environment, Keeping Electricity Affordable and Reliable, and Powering State Economies
Each speaker created a 'buzz' among the attendees. Their talks' content was at times provocative and alarming, while always informative and relevant.
- Listen to the talks (as podcasts) and/or view the presentations
- View the Speaker Bios
- View the Photo Gallery of the day's events
The evening was a time to celebrate those who made the difficult financial and political decisions three decades ago to create this lab. Former Governor, later U.S. Senator Wendell Ford, received the Founders Award. Former Secretaries William Sturgill, Charles Haywood and David Drake and Former Dean of the UK College of Engineering, Jim Funk all received Distinguished Service Awards.
Former Secretary of Energy, William Sturgill also received a Mining Hall of Fame Award from the UK Department of Mining Engineering.
I would like to thank all who helped make this event possible. That includes Director of the Governor's Office of Energy Policy, Talina Mathews for her help in the organization and sponsorship of the summit. I would also like to thank the UK Vice President's Office for Research and E-ON US for helping to sponsor the summit. Without this support, we could not have succeeded.
Sincerely,
Rodney Andrews
Director