WrEF rocks Thousands from every region
gain cutting-edge information from leading experts and vendors at the
World Renewable Energy Forum. Compiled by SOLAR TODAY staff
DennIS SCHROeDeR/nReL
DennIS SCHROe DeR/nReL
DennIS SCHROeDeR/nReL
DAnBIHn.COM
DennIS SCHROeDeR/nReL
36 June 2012 SOLAR TODAY solartoday.org
The renewable energy world came to denver in May. For the first ime combining the american Solar Energy Society’s (aSES’) National Solar Conference and
the biennial world congress of the World renewable Energy Network (WREN), the World Renewable Energy Forum (WREF) brought about 2,000
participants from 67 nations May 13-17. They
attended sessions across nine tracks, viewed innovations from 107 companies in the exhibit hall and
enjoyed keynotes by leaders including U. S. Energy
Secretary Steven Chu, former Colorado Gov. Bill
ritter and National Geographic Executive Environment Editor dennis dimick.
Experts presented about 900 papers in
200 sessions. Attendees included hundreds of
young professionals, gearing up for a generational
Copyright © 2012 by the American Solar Energy Society Inc. All rights reserved.
shift as renewable industries hit their stride.
arguing that the United States can’t afford
to miss out on the global market opportunity for
solar, Chu urged Congress to extend tax credits
for renewables in his plenary presentation Wednesday, May 16. Later, he toured the exhibit hall floor,
viewing demonstrations by Solectria renewables,
Community Power Corp. and other companies.
Presentations from Ritter and Dimick capti-
vated the audience at the Gala awards Banquet,
honoring the 2012 winners of the ASES, Colorado
Renewable Energy Society (CRES) and Society of
Building Science Educators awards. See page 46 for
details of the aSES honorees.
ritter gave a rousing speech outlining what
Colorado has done to build a thriving renewable
energy industrial sector. He got a standing ova-
tion after calling on other states and Congress to
follow suit. dimick gave a dramatic slide show,
featuring photos from National Geographic, show-
ing the scale and speed of the climate crisis over-
whelming us.
Led by WREF Chair Chuck Kutscher of the
U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable
Energy Laboratory (NREL) and Co-chairs Susan
Greene of ASES and Ali Sayigh of WREN, conference technical committees reviewed nearly 1,000
submitted papers. Sessions covered technology,
finance, sustainable building, marketing, applications, energy and gender and more. The rapid-fire
Ignite format proved popular with audiences.
In addition to ASES and WREN, NREL, CRES
and the International Solar Energy Society presented WREF. Next year’s ASES National Solar
Conference, SOLAR 2013, will take place April
18-20 in Baltimore.
