Print this pageSeptember 1 , 2007
Pittsburgh, PA -- The 2007 Energy from Biomass and Waste Expo & Conference was held on September 25th through September 27th in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
The event took place at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in downtown Pittsburgh and attracted over 70 exhibitors and held nearly 50 speaker sessions.
According to organizers, this event was America's first international expo and conference on biomass and waste utilization. It was well received, as nearly 700 attendees were present throughout the three day event. In addition, seven different countries were represented by exhibitors at the expo.
The event began on the evening of September 25th, with a Ribbon-cutting Ceremony in the exhibit hall, followed by the opening speakers. Secretary Kathleen McGinty from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl welcomed sponsors, exhibitors and delegates to the event; which was followed by a Welcome Reception.
On Wednesday and Thursday, attendees had their choice of presentations on various topics, which were given two at a time in separate rooms. Room A was titled, "The Green Fuel Room" and Room B, the "Waste to Value Room". Speaker presentations correlated with these titles, allowing attendees to easily select the topic that would most suit and benefit their interests.
Alexis Klassen, the Project Coordinator for Byrne & Company Limited, attend the conference. Her primary goal in attending the event was to expand her knowledge of anaerobic digestion, which utilizes livestock waste. She says that she was successful and was able to pick up a great deal of knowledge about additional types of biomass utilization as well. Her favorite presentation was given by Shawn Saylor, of Hillcrest Saylor's Dairy Farms in Pennsylvania. He presented an overview of the anaerobic digestion system that was recently constructed on his family's 600 cow dairy farm.
A great diversity was present in the presentations, including: biodigestion, biofuels, biogases, and gasification. Several types of biomass and energy feedstocks were discussed including: grasses, livestock waste, coal, landfill materials, woody biomass, waste water, potatoes, and non-recyclable plastics.
The overall diversity of the presentations, created excitement amongst the guests. Klassen said, "It is exciting to hear first-hand the emerging possibilities and solutions to the world's energy crisis. From unexpected sources, scientists and researchers are developing energy solutions that would have been unheard of ten years ago."
The inspiration for the EBW was the Waste to Energy (WTE) Exhibition and Conference, which was last held in Breman, Germany. The same core group organized the EBW, under the direction of Dr. Ines Freesen, the Managing Director of Freesen & Partner GmbH. Consulting and event management within the energy and environmental fields is the focus of Dr. Freesen's company, which is headquartered in Alpen, Germany.
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