Events
A group from the U.S. Virgin Islands at an Island Clean Energy Workshop held at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado, in February 2010.
Below you will find information about energy-related events for islands. Some of the following documents are available as Adobe Acrobat PDFs. Download Adobe Reader.
Upcoming Events
Pacific Power Association Annual Conference and Trade Exhibition
Location: Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
Date: July 5–9, 2010
This annual conference and exhibition will attract Pacific Power Association (PPA) members from across the Pacific, including utility leaders and others involved in the energy field, as well as nonmember participants. In addition to promoting utility best practices for sustainable development, the event will focus on ways to overcome the barriers to efficient and affordable technologies. It will also feature a trade exhibition of private sector products and services and provide an opportunity for formal and informal face-to-face discussions among utility managers and suppliers.
Asia Pacific Clean Energy Summit and Expo
Location: Hawaii Convention Center, Honolulu
Date: August 30–September 2, 2010
This event will provide a forum for more than 1,200 government leaders, industry professionals, researchers, service and technology providers, customers, and facilitators interested in clean energy development in the Asia Pacific region. The summit will address public policy affecting the renewable energy field; state-of-the-art systems and equipment and emerging technologies; market demand for renewable energy technology in the region; clean energy education; and the Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative. Special sessions will focus on energy efficiency, solar, wind, biofuels, geothermal, ocean energy, energy policy, and investment in renewable energy projects. A key focus will be China's investment in renewable energy. A trade show will highlight Hawaii‘s advances as an early adopter of clean energy solutions and feature innovative clean energy technologies, services, and ideas from around the world. Innovations in smart grid, building efficiency, fuel cells, energy storage, and renewable energy technologies will be showcased to increase awareness and facilitate funding opportunities and partnerships.
Past Events
U.S. Virgin Islands Energy Workshop
Location: University of the Virgin Islands, St. Thomas, USVI
Date: June 14–16, 2010
EDIN's U.S. partners met with members of the U.S. Virgin Islands Energy Action Team and formed working groups to begin charting a course for a clean energy future for the U.S. Virgin Islands. The workshop provided a forum for discussion, education, and collaborative planning among government, utility, education, and businesses leaders; environmental groups; and other key stakeholders. The focus of the workshop was on clean energy strategy and policy development, including technical and financial considerations. Clean energy experts from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Department of the Interior, and the private sector presented information on energy efficiency, transportation, and renewable energy generation and transmission. In addition, Dr. Kenneth Kao, lecturer in architecture and faculty advisor for Harvard's Green Campus Initiative, provided thought leadership on building energy efficiency. Three days of intensive meetings culminated with a collaborative brainstorming session designed to develop strategies for outreach and communications to build grassroots support for the territory's clean energy agenda.
Marine Energy and Smart Grid Technology Workshop
Location: Dublin, Ireland
Date: May 10–11, 2010
Attended by more than 150 government, business, and scientific leaders from the United States, Ireland, and Northern Ireland, this invitation-only workshop focused on developing new business opportunities and collaborative projects to help address Ireland's energy challenges. Delegates explored innovative solutions for lowering carbon emissions while meeting skyrocketing energy demand, ranging from offshore marine electricity generation to smart grid management. GE Energy Services Vice President Bob Gilligan discussed the potential of smart grid solutions designed to help boost energy efficiency, control demand, and integrate renewable generation into the electrical grid.
Energy and Climate Ministerial of the Americas
Location: Inter-American Development Bank, Washington, D.C.
Date: April 15–16, 2010
Attended by energy ministers from across the hemisphere, the Energy and Climate Ministerial of the Americas, hosted by U.S. Secretary of Energy Stephen Chu, is part of the Energy and Climate Partnership of the Americas (ECPA), which President Barack Obama invited all democratically elected governments to join in April 2009 at the Summit of the Americas. ECPA is comprised of voluntary initiatives focused on energy efficiency, renewable energy, cleaner fossil fuels, infrastructure, and energy poverty. At the Ministerial, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton underscored the U.S. commitment to helping governments achieve low-carbon economic growth and highlighted new initiatives that the Department of State is sponsoring under ECPA to expand energy and climate cooperation in the Americas. The Secretary also announced the expansion of ECPA climate cooperation to include future initiatives, including Advancing Sustainable Energy in the Caribbean, Strengthening Central American Energy and Environmental Security, Advancing Sustainable Biomass Energy, and Peace Corps Renewable Energy and Climate Change Initiative.
Island Clean Energy Workshops
Location: Golden, Colorado
Dates: February 16–18, 2010; March 1–2, 2010
Because island communities are particularly vulnerable to skyrocketing oil prices and rising sea levels, reducing dependence on fossil fuels has become a top priority for islands around the world. To assist with efforts to increase island energy security, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) is sharing wins and lessons learned from the work it is doing to support island clean energy initiatives in Hawaii and Alaska with other islands, including the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI).
In support of Energy Development in Island Nations' (EDIN's) USVI pilot project, NREL hosted a workshop for more than 25 government leaders, energy office officials, and utility company executives from the U.S. Virgin Islands. The workshop kicked off with Gov. John P. deJohngh Jr.'s announcement of the territory's goal of a 60% reduction in fossil fuel-based energy consumption by 2025. During the three-day workshop, NREL experts provided a wealth of information on clean energy strategy and policy development; energy efficiency and renewable energy deployment; and energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies. Among the topics covered were green jobs development, landfill gas conversion, advanced vehicle and fleet planning, energy efficient building design, and energy savings performance contracts. Officials from the state of Hawaii and Kodiak, Alaska, also presented case studies on their island clean energy initiatives. In addition to disseminating valuable knowledge and experience, the workshop provided a forum for robust face-to-face discussion among stakeholders and gave them an opportunity to focus on energy strategy intensively for three days. The event culminated with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding among the USVI, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), and the U.S. Department of Interior, which establishes the objectives of the USVI pilot project and outlines how NREL and DOE will work with USVI to develop and implement a strategy to increase energy security in the territory.
NREL hosted another Clean Energy Workshop March 1–2, when the governors of American Samoa, the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands, and Guam convened at NREL to explore ways of improving energy efficiency and increasing renewable energy technologies in the U.S. Pacific territories.
Caribbean Renewable Energy Forum (CREF)
Location: Montego Bay, Jamaica
Date: October 15–16, 2009
A new conference designed to increase renewable energy implementation across the Caribbean region, this forum was designed for Caribbean regional governments, utilities, the private sector, regional and international investors, technology providers, and others. A hands-on, results-oriented event, CREF tackled the bottleneck issues of financing, regulation, and long-term project profitability.
Driving Sustainability
Location: Reykjavik, Iceland
Date: September 14–15, 2009
A major event on the 2009 agenda of the Nordic Council of Ministers, Driving Sustainability focused on the near-term potential of sustainable energy solutions for transport, including electric mobility, the future of biofuels, and energy efficiency in land and sea transport, along with the latest trends in urban planning, energy infrastructure, and policy. This event combined the unique Icelandic energy scenario with strong international participation and a special focus on the Nordic countries.
Asia Pacific Clean Energy Summit and Expo
Location: Honolulu, Hawaii
Date: August 31–September 2, 2009
This event attracted more than 800 business executives, government officials, professionals, researchers, service and technology providers, customers, and facilitators interested in clean energy development in the Asia Pacific region. More than 60 presenters provided information on various renewable energy initiatives and policies throughout the region. The expo, which featured more than 50 exhibitors, including BAE Systems, Lockheed Martin, and Sempra Generation, generated more than $15 million in business transactions.
Americas Energy and Climate Symposium
Location: Lima, Peru
Date: June 15–16, 2009
Organized in response to the Fifth Summit of the Americas, held in Trinidad and Tobago on April 17–19, 2009, this event represented a first step toward confronting the principal challenges of global climate change in the Americas. At the symposium, the General Secretariat of the Organization of American States, through its Department of Sustainable Development, collaborated with the Institute of the Americas, the Latin American Energy Organization, the Caribbean Central American Action, the Ministry of Energy & Mines of Peru, the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade of Canada, the U.S. Department of Energy, and the U.S. Department of State to identify concrete collaborative actions to help promote alternative energy technologies and ensure energy security in the Western Hemisphere.
EDIN Open House
Location: Honolulu, Hawaii
Date: April 8, 2009
During this event, members of the EDIN steering committee discussed EDIN goals, answered questions about the initiative, and introduced new pilot projects.