FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Sher Quaday
Phone: 831-426-3733
Email: sher@aweconsortium.org
Airborne Wind Energy Consortium to Honor Pioneering Engineer Miles Loyd and Climatologist Ken Caldeira at Industry Conference
More than 30 years ago, Lawrence Livermore Engineer Miles Loyd published an unconventional paper describing a flying pattern for airborne wind energy systems that could harness the vast energy potential of high altitude wind. Loyd, now retired, will be honored with the Airborne Wind Energy Consortium Innovator of the Year award at the Airborne Wind Energy Conference 2010 on September 28 at Stanford University.
JoeBen Bevirt, chair of the Airborne Wind Energy Consortium (AWEC), said that Lloyd’s seminal work marked the inception of today’s revolutionary airborne wind energy industry.
Miles had a futuristic vision that was only limited by the technologies of his time,” Bevirt said. “Today’s advanced materials and computer technologies are transforming that vision into reality.”
The consortium will also present a 2009 Co-Innovator of the Year award to Ken Caldeira, director of the Carnegie Institution of Washington’s Department of Global Ecology at Stanford University at the conference on September 29. Caldeira’s innovative work illuminates the connections between climate, the carbon cycle, and our energy system. He is co-author with Cristina Archer of "Global Assessment of High-Altitude Wind Power" published in 2009 in the journal Energies, which validated the immense energy production potential of high altitude winds.
The Airborne Wind Energy Conference 2010 features presentations by industry research and development organizations from 13 countries, updates on public/private investment in renewable energy, improvements in resource analysis and discussions of key regulatory issues.
Bevirt said that airborne wind energy systems will deliver clean, reliable energy that will be cost-competitive with the fossil fuels.
"By operating at high altitudes, airborne wind energy systems harness winds that are stronger and more consistent – that together with low capital cost and high energy output make airborne wind energy a very compelling renewable energy source," Bevirt said.
Featured conference speakers include Fort Felker, Director of the U.S. National Wind Technology Center at the National Renewable Energy Lab; Mark Hartney from the Department of Energy Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E); Ken Caldeira, Department of Global Ecology - Carnegie Institution of Washington; Saul Griffith, MacArthur Foundation “Genius” Grant recipient, energy expert and co-founder of Makani Power; Ira Ehrenpreis, General Partner with Technology Partners, Elizabeth Lynn Ray, Director, Airspace & Aeronautical Information Management at the FAA and other government and industry experts.
Conference sponsors include the Airborne Wind Energy Consortium, Ampyx Power, Joby Energy, Magenn Power, Makani Power, Sky WindPower, Raptor Radar Wind Profilers (Detect, Inc.) and NTS Energie und Transportsysteme GmbH and is supported by the California State University – Chico, Clean Technology and Sustainable Industries Organization, Greentechmedia, Cleantech Law Partners, and RECHARGE News.
For more details, or for conference and speaker updates, please visit www.awec2010.com
For complementary media registration contact: sher@aweconsortium.org.