Washington State cleantech organizations were pleased to participate in the Washington Defense Partnership meeting held in conjunction with the Pacific Northwest Defense Symposium on August 17, 2011. Moderating the session was Tom Ranken (CEO, Washington Clean Technology Alliance). Presenters were Ross Macfarlane (Senior Advisor, Climate Solutions), John Barclay (Emerald Energy Northwest), and Herb Pearse (CEO, Eco-Tec, Inc.).
Ross Macfarlane spoke about the Sustainable Aviation Fuels Northwest (SAFN) project. Ross quoted New Scientist from 2010 noting that: “Sandal-wearers won’t save us from global warming–but greed and the US Navy will.” The SAFN mission was to explore opportunities and challenges in the potential production of sustainable aviation fuel using Pacific Northwest feed stocks. There were more than forty participant organizations studying the potential in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana with Climate Solutions facilitating the process. The report was optimistic that a “drop-in” aviation biofuel might be developed with Pacific Northwest resources and know-how. View Ross’ presentation here.
John Barclay of Emerald Energy NW talked about “Distributed-Scale LNG Energy Supply and Use for Industrial and Transportation Sectors.” Emerald Energy is a new company focused on the development of natural gas as a clean energy source. Natural gas, said Barclay, “is a great fuel.” It is clean and safe. It has the potential to positively impact the total supply of energy, improve US energy security, and make contributions that improve climate. It can improve the quality of the environment and reduce unhealthy air, lessen the ability of terrorists to threaten the US, impact positively on the national economy, and enhance the quality of life. Key to the development of natural gas are innovations along the entire energy supply chain. View his presentation here.
Herb Pearse (CEO, Eco-Tec, Inc.) played a key role in reducing the damage done to the shorelines in the BP spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The Adsorb-It filtration products were deployed over hundreds of miles of shorelines in the Gulf. Adsorb-It is a reusable material that filters oil from the water. Deployed along the shorelines, the product was able to keep oil from infiltrating shorelines and marsh areas and save them from substantial damage. Because the product is reusable, the total cost of ownership is substantially below that of disposable products. View his presentation with pictures of Adsorb-It deployed in the Gulf of Mexico here. An interview and video with Herb can be found here.