A report from E3 2010: The Midwest’s Premier Energy, Environment and Economic Conference

Martin Bergstedt

Martin Bergstedt is an experienced executive, with a Chemical Engineering degree from the University of Minnesota. He first joined Economics Laboratory at their pilot plant, performing process development and plant start-ups. From there he held positions of progressively increasing scope and responsibility at ETD Technology and DuPont Electronics, and then spent ten years in General Manager positions with Aptus (Westinghouse) Environmental and USFilter (Veolia). He worked at U.S. Water Services as Director of Engineering and Project Management, overseeing the design, specification and installation of water treatment systems for 60 new ethanol plants in a three year period, and is currently General Manager, Eastern U.S. at Amazon Environmental. His greatest successes are when taking underperforming or inexperienced organizations and forging a cohesive effort to accomplish the project or profit objectives.

December 14, 2010

Researchers, students, government officials, and nonprofit and business leaders from Minnesota and across the nation attended E3 2010, Tuesday, November 30 at the Saint Paul RiverCentre. This year's conference focused on the intersection among innovative technologies and policies, environmental benefits, and emerging market opportunities in the renewable energy sector. The goal of E3 was to share knowledge and discoveries in the areas of renewable energy and the environment while bringing together the world's leading researchers and experts.

The Conference

I attended the first day of the Third Annual E3 Conference, Sponsored by the University of Minnesota Institute on the Environment in St. Paul last week and discovered a wealth of exciting research and progress in the green technologies and sustainable and renewable energy. Wind, thermal and photovoltaic solar, and a variety of bio-fuels and bio-energy sources are being explored and examined, and were expounded upon in great detail throughout the day.

A Variety of Messages

There were five different breakout session areas at three different time periods with 4-5 presentations in each. In addition, two national figures--Daniel Kammen of the University of California, Berkley and The World Bank, and Nicole Y. Lamb-Hale of the U.S. Department of Commerce--gave keynote addresses to the entire conference. Here are the interviews with Daniel and Nicole:

Daniel Kammen, The World Bank

Video above.

Nicole Lamb-Hale, US Commerce Department

Additional Interviews:

There were also research posters prepared by graduate students and faculty on more than 60 current research topics, and an exhibitors' hall with vendors and institutions from the upper Midwest.

Deanna Miller, Graduate Student in Chemistry

Michael Skinner, Graduate Student in ChemEng/Mat Sci

During the day I had the opportunity to speak to many speakers, students, and vendors and captured seven more of these in video, which are located on Chenected's YouTube channel. Please take a few minutes to view some of these interviews, and to see and hear about some of the efforts at the forefront of the green technologies and sustainable energy fields.

Did you attend E3 2010 and want to share your opinion and experiences?

Comments

Martin, Thanks for sharing this! I am looking forward to watching all the videos!

Elizabeth, There are some good ones.

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