GreenBiz Workshop to Explore the Business of the Electric Grid
Industry stakeholders to address electric grid reliability and resilience
OAKLAND, Calif., July 30, 2014 /3BL Media/ - On October 27, 2014, Rocky Mountain Institute and GreenBiz Group are joining forces to produce eLab Ignite, a half-day working session at VERGE San Francisco focused on addressing the challenges and capturing the value created by our rapidly evolving electricity system.
The workshop, titled eLab Ignite: Finding Value at the Distribution Edge, will convene corporate customers, innovators, utilities, and other key industry stakeholders to address the challenges and opportunities arising from the convergence of increasing capability and affordability of distributed resources, climate change and the need for a more resilient U.S. electricity system.
"The U.S. electricity system is on the cusp of major change, but a host of challenges and barriers threaten to prevent the full benefits of renewable and distributed resources from being realized," said Jules Kortenhorst, CEO of Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI). "eLab Ignite provides an opportunity to create real solutions and take meaningful action that addresses the needs of the electricity system, and moves us to Electricity 2.0."
eLab Ignite is one of five half-day sessions kicking off VERGE San Francisco, GreenBiz Group's global event series focused on the technologies and systems that accelerate sustainability solutions across sectors in a climate-constrained world. The event focuses on transformative but practical, scalable, solutions-oriented exchanges through six program tracks: distributed energy systems, next-gen buildings, resilient cities, sustainable mobility, smarter supply chains, and food and water systems.
“VERGE aims to accelerate systemic solutions, not simply talk about challenges, and no one is better able to deliver on that than RMI,” said Eric Faurot, CEO of GreenBiz Group. “We’ve designed this year’s program to include many engaging, roll-up-your-sleeves workshops, including eLab Ignite. It represents a powerful opportunity to catalyze the potential for real transformation."
Following eLab Ignite, VERGE's distributed energy systems track will explore how disruptive market shifts and innovative technologies bring low-carbon solutions to companies and cities. Other highlights include sessions on energy storage for corporates; distributed generation and the future of utilities; practical, scalable solar innovation; the rise of nanogrids; and the California energy storage mandate in action. VERGE San Francisco will feature more than 120 speakers, including Chris Anderson of 3D Robotics, Robyn Beavers of NRG Energy, Jon Lauckner of General Motors, author and entrepreneur Paul Hawken, Biomimicry 3.8 co-founder Janine Benyus, and Rocky Mountain Institute co-founder Amory Lovins.
The future of a distributed energy system will also be showcased through the fully functional, renewably-powered microgrid produced in partnership with Spirae, which will power the VERGE main stage and VERGE Interconnect vendor and technology exhibition.
For more information about VERGE San Francisco, visit GreenBiz.com/VERGE.
ABOUT GREENBIZ GROUP
GreenBiz Group’s mission is to define and accelerate the business of sustainability. It does this through a wide range of products and services, including its acclaimed website GreenBiz.com and e-newsletters, GreenBuzz and VERGE; webcasts on topics of importance to sustainability and energy executives; research reports, including the annual State of Green Business; the GreenBiz Executive Network, a membership-based, peer-to-peer learning forum for sustainability executives; and conferences: GreenBiz Forum and VERGE.
