Renewable Energy Certificates Panel
Lori Bird - Senior Energy Analyst, National Renewable Energy Laboratory Lori Bird is a senior energy analyst with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado, specializing in the area of renewable energy markets and policy. She has co-authored a number of publications pertaining to green power and renewable energy certificate (REC) markets, voluntary utility green power programs, renewable portfolio standards, and the role of renewables in carbon markets. Her work has appeared in academic and trade journals such as: Energy Policy, The Electricity Journal, Renewable Energy World, and Corporate Environmental Strategy. Before joining NREL, she worked for DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy in Denver and Hagler Bailly Consulting in Boulder, Colorado. She holds a master's degree in Environmental Studies from Yale University’s School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. Bill Eddie - Director of Origination and Procurement, Bonneville Environmental Foundation Bill conducts project origination, project development, and risk management as Director of Origination and Procurement with Bonneville Environmental Foundation. Prior to joining BEF, Bill practiced environmental and energy law in the Northwest, handling utility ratemaking, renewable energy, water rights, and air and water quality matters. He received the NW Energy Coalition’s Headwaters Award in 2004 “in recognition of leadership for a clean and affordable energy future.” Founded in 1998, BEF is a Portland-based nonprofit which pioneers entrepreneurial solutions to remedy the earth’s most pressing energy, water and climate concerns. BEF was a founder of the voluntary market for renewable energy certificates, and continues as a leader in the renewable energy and carbon offset marketing industry today. www.b-e-f.org Andrew Nourafshan - Green-e, Program Analyst, Green-e Climate Andrew Nourafshan works at the Center for Resource Solutions in the administration of the Green-e Climate program, the nation’s first certification and consumer protection program for carbon offsets sold to consumers on the retail market. Prior to joining the Green-e Climate staff, Andrew worked in the Green-e Energy program, where he worked with sellers of renewable energy and renewable energy certificates to help them provide certified renewable energy products to customers nationwide. Much of his work within the Green-e Energy program focused on the issues of marketing and environmental claims related to the purchases and sales of renewable energy. Mr. Nourafshan is also involved with other initiatives at the Center For Resource Solutions, including the ongoing monitoring and analysis of issues of related to climate and renewable energy policy. A Bay Area native, Mr. Nourafshan graduated from Pomona College in 2007 with a B.A. in Public Policy Analysis. Moderator: TBA Forestry Panel Christopher Galik - Research Coordinator, Climate Change Policy Partnership at Duke University
Christopher Galik joined the Climate Change Policy Partnership as a Research Analyst in 2006 after several years at the National Association of Home Builders in Washington D.C. Christopher’s prior experience in federal forest management and endangered species policy provides a strong base to his current portfolio of biological sequestration, bioenergy, and biofuels policy analysis and applied research. His current work focuses on the development of federal offsets policy, the intersection of biofuels and resource conservation policy, and the potential use of forest biomass for bioenergy. Christopher holds a Master of Environmental Management degree from the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke, with a concentration in forest resource economics and policy. He received his B.A. in Biology from Vassar College. Len Eddy - President and CEO, The Carbon Basis Company Len has 25 years of experience in business management, industrial operations, environmental auditing, and management consulting. He led several greenhouse gas offset business development initiatives throughout the Americas and Asia when he was a Managing Director with AgCert International. Mr. Eddy’s earlier experience includes forest industrial operations and he was a Director of PricewaterhouseCoopers’ (PwC) Global Risk Management Service where he founded PwC’s Canadian greenhouse gas management consulting practice in 1998. Over the last 10 years Mr. Eddy has acquired an expertise in developing commercialization strategies for greenhouse gas emission offset products. He holds professional forester designations in Canada and the USA, and his other areas of expertise includes environmental auditing, earning Lead Auditor status for ISO Environmental and for Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) certification auditing. Mr. Eddy was pioneer in the area of forest management auditing, leading many of the first forest management certification audits in North America. His education includes a BSc and an MBA from the University of Alberta. Ron Luhur - Carbon Markets Specialist, Environmental Defense Fund Ron Luhur builds the case for carbon offsets and carbon markets in the context of strategic corporate greenhouse gas management. He focuses on building a robust and transparent market for high-quality carbon offsets that will help finance the breakthrough emissions reduction projects needed to address the climate change challenge. Luhur is currently leading a project to identify high-quality carbon offset programs and recently launched CarbonOffsetList.org, an independent guide that helps connect buyers with sellers of high-quality, Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) pre-screened carbon offset projects. Luhur is a member of EDF's Corporate Partnerships Program, where he helps develop corporate partnerships that deliver business benefits, environmental results and industry change. He also has contributed to EDF's engagement of carbon market issues at the UN climate change negotiations. In particular, he focuses on finding ways to help developing countries stop and reverse tropical deforestation through the carbon markets. Moderator: Jeffrey Vincent, Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University Energy Efficiency Certificates Panel Alden manages Sterling Planet's new customer accounts in the non-residential sector. Mr. Hathaway tailors customized solutions for carbon neutrality that combine White Tags™ Energy Efficiency Certificates, renewable energy and direct carbon offsets. A visionary with unparalleled dedication to practical, economical and meaningful applications of clean energy technologies, Mr. Hathaway has extensive experience in clean energy policy, market development and application of leading-edge technology. As Director of EcoPower® Programs for the Environmental Resources Trust (ERT), Mr. Hathaway coordinated renewable energy certification, as well as energy and environmental consulting services for national accounts, utilities and government agencies. He also provided input for development of EPA's Green Power Partnership Program. Eliot Metzger - Climate & Energy Program Associate, World Resources InstituteEliot is an Associate in the World Resources Institute’s Climate & Energy Program. He works on several projects that engage the private sector in developing solutions to climate and energy challenges. His research focuses on corporate strategies to adopt and advance energy efficiency, clean power technologies, sustainable buildings and other critical elements of a strong low-carbon economy. He works closely with companies participating in WRI’s U.S. Climate Business Group, including the Climate Southeast workgroup that includes several Fortune 500 companies based in the region. Prior to WRI, Eliot worked at Eastern Research Group as a consultant to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on a variety of energy and water efficiency initiatives. Eliot earned his Masters in Environmental Science and Policy at Johns Hopkins University and completed undergraduate degrees in Environmental Science and Business Administration at the University of San Francisco. Cindy Jacobs - Connecticut Department of Public Utility Control Cindy Jacobs has worked as a finance specialist at the Connecticut Department of Public Utility Control since 1986. She has been principal staff in energy efficiency and renewable proceedings, including: annual C&LM program filings, Class III energy efficiency trading system, certification of renewable projects, Connecticut Clean Energy Options (voluntary renewable energy) program, Project 150 (long-term renewable energy contracts), and integrated resource planning. She also teaches in the graduate economics program at Trinity College, Hartford CT. She earned a B.A. in Economics from Earlham College (Indiana), and an M.S. in Economics and Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics from the University of Illinois. Moderator: Dalia Patino Echeverri, Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University Methane Capture Panel Todd Wooten - Director, Southeast Climate Resources Center, Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions at Duke University Bringing insight from years of experience developing carbon emission reduction projects under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), Mr. Vazquez offers our state and nation the benefit of lessons learned from the most significant cap and trade system ever developed: the Kyoto protocol. Formerly Vice-President of AgCert Services USA, Mr. Vazquez understands the complex and critical interactions among government, business, and science for impactful emission reduction. Acquired by AES Corporation in 2008, AgCert was a leading Kyoto public corporation, with 95 emission reduction projects across 700 international sites, all registered under the rigors of CDM. These projects included methane capture and renewable energy such as landfill and large-scale agricultural biodigesters. Founder of AgCert’s TurboGreen Division, Mr. Vazquez also personally led the development of a pipeline of 20 million annual tons of CDM carbon emission reduction in industry in a dozen countries in the Americas, Africa, and Asia. Educated in both business and science, Mr. Vazquez has a BS from Caltech and an MBA from Harvard Graduate School of Business. Prior to his CDM experience, he led the development and operation of international manufacturing for General Motors and owned a successful business process reengineering consulting firm for Fortune 500 and government clients.Todd Wooten, an expert on climate policy and carbon market design, has joined the staff of the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions at Duke University as director of the Southeast Climate Resources Center. Wooten comes to Duke from Van Ness Feldman, an energy policy law firm based in Washington, D.C., where he served as senior director for governmental issues. Prior to that, for more than five years he was legislative counsel in the office of U.S. Senator Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.), where he analyzed policy on issues involving climate, energy, environmental issues, tax, transportation, judicial nominations, homeland security, intelligence, and armed services. He also served as an energy staffer for Lincoln on three Senate committees with biofuel jurisdiction: Agriculture, Energy & Natural Resources, and Finance. Al Vazquez - Managing Partner, Closewaters LLC Energy and Carbon Management Max DuBuisson - Business Development Associate, Climate Action Reserve As Business Development Associate, Max focuses on the growth and development of the Climate Action Reserve. He serves as a resource for offset project developers using California Registry, especially for methane capture projects. Prior to joining the California Registry, Max worked as a Project Coordinator for Infinity Wind Power in Santa Barbara, assisting the startup company with site prospecting, GIS mapping and project-related research. He has also worked for Environmental Services at PG&E in San Francisco and in retail management for O&CO. in Los Angeles. Max received a Masters in Environmental Science and Management from the Donald Bren School at UC Santa Barbara – with a focus on Eco-Entrepreneurship and Corporate Environmental Management – where he co-authored a paper on a framework for evaluating the environmental performance of eco-entrepreneurs. His professional goal is to help translate environmental stewardship into good business practice. Originally from North Carolina, Max received a Bachelor’s degree in Biology from Davidson College. Moderator: Tanja Vujic, Environmental Policy and Law Consultant |