Speakers and Workshops
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This is a list of workshops for the 2007 North Country Sustainable Energy Fair. Most workshops listed were on Saturday April 28th and either 45 minutes or an hour and a half. We offered five longer hands-on workshops on Sunday. A full schedule of times with descriptions of the workshops and biographies of presenters is available on the website under Workshop Schedule and Descriptions.
In addition, there were two panels in the Kingston Theater on Friday. In the afternoon, a panel entitled CHANGE IN THE WIND: Community Considerations for Wind Power Development was given in conjunction with the St. Lawrence County Environmental Management Council. It featured Keith Pitman from Empire State Wind Energy, a company that provides different options for wind power development allowing local control and benefit. Also on the panel were Robert Juravich, executive director of the Development Authority of the North Country and Kevin McAuliffe, an attorney who represented municipalities in negotiations with the Maple Ridge Wind Farm in Lewis County.On Friday at 7 p.m. a panel HOW TO BE A CONSUMER OF BIOENERGY was led by Sue Powers of Clarkson Institute, an organizer of the BioEnergy Summit last June. This program will look at biofuels for transportation, energy and heating, such as biodiesel, ethanol, wood and grass pellets, wood gasification and biomass from dairy waste in the context of the North Country. How can we make production and consumption of bio-energy happen here? We, the consumers, need to create a demand for it. Can we make this happen first in the home heating market? How many of us are ready to burn available 20% biodiesel in our furnaces next year? People learned what they need to know about biofuels: what they are and how to find and use them.
SATURDAY WORKSHOPS
(This is a short list. For detailed descriptions, biographies and times, See Workshop Schedule and Descriptions.)
At 10 am in the Campus Center theater, Gay Canough will give the Keynote Address entitled
A Polar Bear Ate My SUV And Other Excuses
We Americans have the world’s largest carbon footprint. And yet, we are able to come up with an endless list of, call them what they are, EXCUSES, as to why we cannot live more sustainably. Why can’t we use energy efficient cars and appliances? What’s stopping us from reducing our consumption? She will illuminate some of the mind-set holding us back and help us all start to think of sustainable living as readily achievable, no more excuses needed!
- ‘Crazy’ Jerry Bartlett Creative Off-Grid Retrofits
- PANEL: Jerry Bartlett, The Martins, Ed Goldstein, Robert Best, Greg Olsen, Peter Romaniuk et al, Using Alternative Fuels & Vehicles: Up Close and Personal (Biodiesel, Veggie Oil, Hybrids, Electric, Wood Gasification, Hydrogen Enhanced and more!)
- Ed Bennett & Scott Shipley Faith, Energy & the Environment: What Your Church Can Do To Save Energy
- PANEL: Robert Best, Keith Pitman & Bill Monroe Municipal Power in the North Country
- Matt Bullwinkel Solar Hot Water Heating
- Jim Devine From Frigid to Frisky: Windows That Really Keep Out the Cold
- Roy Butler Solar Photovoltaics
- Bob Ellison Small Wind: What the Homeowner Needs To Know
- Jock Gill Green Gold: Grass Pelleting for Heat
- Scott Gordon Challenges and Opportunities for Small-Scale Biodiesel Production
- Stefan Grimberg Energy From Cows: Anaerobic Digesters on Dairy Farms
- Daniel Haas (Noble Environmental Power) Wind Energy In New York State: Opportunities and Challenges
- Ann Heidenreich & Scott Shipley Make Your Home Energy Efficient: Energy Audits and Negotiating the NYSERDA State Energy Incentives
- Kirk Herander Grid-Tied Solar Systems
- PANEL: Jan Hutslar, Erik Schulze, Bryan Thompson & Betsy Kepes Living Off-Grid: The Day-To-Day Reality
- Jeff Jones New Energy for Cities, Towns and Farms
- Jim Juczak How To Build an Off-Grid $20,000 House
- Jim Juczak How To Put Together a Cheaper Solar System
- PANEL: Katherine Lang, Bob Wascho, Heather Sullivan-Catlin, GardenShare Hungry For Answers: Where Does Local Food Fit In?
- Gerry Loch Save Energy, Save Dollars: It’s 10 AM: Do You Know What Your Water Heater Is Doing?
- Miles Manchester Do-It-Yourself Weatherization
- John Manning Global Warming and Geothermal Heat Pumps
- The Martin Family Running Diesels on Vegetable Oil
- Daniel Martin Pressing Your Own Oil with a Screw Press
- Jim Merkel Creating Sustainable College Campuses
- Jim Merkel Radical Simplicity and Our Ecological Footprint
- PANEL:Steve Meyer, Greg Murray, Bruce Woodruff, Jeff Luoma BIOHEAT: Biodiesel in Your Furnace, Wood Gasification Furnaces, Pellet and Corn Stoves & Furnaces, Efficient Wood Burning and Woodlot Management
- Mike Newtown Energy for Everybody: An Intro to Renewables
- Aileen O’Donoghue The Science of Climate Change: What Can We Know
- Bill Olsen Wood Gasification
- Joe Rappa The Who, What, Why and How of Biodiesel
- Joe Rappa Biodiesel 2007 and Beyond
- Jon Rosales Post Kyoto Options: The Next Climate Change Policy
- Rob Roy Mortgage Free!
- Timber Framing for the Rest of Us
- Earth Sheltered Housing
- Matt Saucier & Jerry Loch (Special 3 hour workshop 2-5 for teachers, parents and home school parents) Energy Efficiency At Home: A Workshop for Middle & High School Teachers
- Erik Schulze Passive Solar Design
- Norbert Senf Masonry Heaters: The Most Efficient Wood Burning System
- Robert Shantie Hydropower in the North Country
- Steve Spence Off-Grid Energy and Living Systems
- Kevin Stack A Systems Approach to Green Building
- Bill Vitek The Limits Principle: Manifesto for a Post Carbon World
- Rob Roy, CORDWOOD MASONRY BUILDING Rob Roy is the country’s top expert in this popular, inexpensive, indigenous kind of building. The class will be divided between visuals and hands-on building. $40 - 9 am to 12:30
- Pete Popiel & Jerry Bartlett, MAKE YOUR OWN BIODIESEL $30 (A CD is included with this course.) 1 pm to 4:30
- Jim Juczak & Steve Spence, MAKE YOUR OWN BICYCLE GENERATOR $30 (Materials fee of $100 ONLY if you wish to take home an assembled bicycle generator to use for charging batteries, running small appliances or tv’s, etc. Please bring an adult size bike if you want to assemble your own during the class–all other parts provided. The bike can be disassembled easily and used for regular cycling again, if you want.) 9 am - 12:30
- Jim Juczak, MAKE YOUR OWN SOLAR FOOD DRYER $30 (Materials fee of $25 for a small or $50 for a large Dryer ONLY if you wish to take one home.) Jim will cover processes of food drying and have samples on hand to try. 1 pm - 4:30
- Mike DeWein, CODES AND NEW TECHNOLOGY-Building a Partnership $30 (For builders, contractors and code officers - CD included)9 am to 12:30
SUNDAY HANDS-ON WORKSHOPS
Workshops listed as HANDS-ON were 3.5 hours long and took place on Sunday at SUNY Canton in Nevaldine Hall. These workshops were limited enrollment and by pre-registration only. They cost $30 or $40 as marked. Some workshops have a materials fee if you want to take home what you build. For full descriptions, see Workshop Schedule and Description.
