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As the US is turning more and more to green practices, more business opportunities will be available for Swedish companies, which, in general, have made great advances in areas such as energy from waste and biomass, as well as sustainable design. We will explore these opportunities so that Seattle and the Pacific Northwest can continue to be a US market leader in sustainable development and clean technology. Sweden, with its high green standards, has the knowledge and tools to capitalize on these opportunities. However, the US has made more progress in areas such as alternative fuels and forest products, where companies like Weyerhaeuser have had a major impact. On a global scale, Clean Tech/Sustainable Development is a sector that is undergoing rapid innovation. The European Union (EU) – of which Sweden is a member – is the world leader in environmental protection policymaking, legislation and projects. The US market, meanwhile, is the largest in the world, and provides a unique and rich opportunity for business and policy development. Sweden’s capital, Stockholm was recently named European Green Capital 2010.
Day 1, Wednesday May 5, will focus on the rapid development and current opportunities that renewable energy, energy efficiency and smart grids have to offer, and also on a two-way knowledge and business-to-business exchange between the US and Sweden. Keynote speakers will include Matthew Barzun (US Ambassador to Sweden), Mark R. Anderson (Strategic News Service and Future in Review Conferences), Tomas Kåberger (Swedish Energy Agency), and Jeff Morris (Washington State Representative). The topics covered will include the state of the industry in both the US and Sweden, the potential for collaboration, and how a change in tax policies can create incentives for clean technology development. For more details on the program for May 5, we advise you to see the general program.
Day 2, Thursday May 6, is a deep dive into the conferences’ three industry clusters and will have concurrent sessions within these three focuses of Clean Tech / Sustainable Development, Med Tech & Global Health and Mobility & IT. The Clean Tech / Sustainable Development cluster will feature panel discussions on “Clean Energy, Green Design & a Sustainable Community”; “Biomass & Waste to Energy”; “Lessons from Sweden; Action in Seattle” and “Energy Storage & Transportation”. Some highlighted panelists are Roger Garratt (Puget Sound Energy), Philipp Schmidt-Pathmann (Green Conversion Systems), Hans Gulliksson (Energy Agency Southeast Sweden), Stan Gent (Seattle Steam Company), and David Kaplan (V2Green), just to mention a few.
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Thursday May 6
8.00am-9.00am
Business Matchmaking
9.00am-10.30am
Clean Energy, Green Design & A Sustainable CommunityThis panel will examine the use of clean energy and energy-saving design techniques as a means of moving toward a truly sustainable built environment, with a focus on new technologies and policies. Moderated by Joshua Curtis, Director of the Great Cities program, we will hear about cutting edge solutions to today’s problems in both the US and Sweden.
Panel participants:
- Roger Garratt, Director of Resource Acquisition & Emerging Technology, Puget Sound Energy
- Bert Gregory, President and CEO, Mithun, Seattle
- Thomas Karlsson, Head of Economic Development, City of Växjö, Sweden
- Maria Strömberg, Head of Business & Environment, Business Region Gothenburg
Moderator:
- Joshua Curtis, CEO, Great City, Seattle
11.00am-12.30pm
BIOMASS & WASTE TO ENERGY – Holistic ways to a solutionStephen Gerritson, Business Development Manager Clean Energy and Technology at Enterprise Seattle, will moderate this panel treating the technologies and politics of recovering energy from waste in Europe and the US. We hope to learn from the European examples while stimulating interest and action for a new approach to waste management here.
Panel participants:- Philipp Schmidt-Pathmann, Executive VP, Green Conversion Systems
- Hans Gulliksson, Project Developer, Energy Agency Southeast Sweden
- Dwight Miller, Program Manager, Environmental Engineering & Science, Parametrix
Moderator:
- Stephen Gerritson, Business Development Manager, Enterprise Seattle
1.30pm-2.30pm
Lessons from Sweden; Action in Seattle
I-SUSTAIN, urban sustainability consultants, has lead study tours to Sweden for the past six years to look at best practices in energy, waste, stormwater management, green roofs, bicycling infrastructure, pedestrian streets and sustainable neighborhoods. Almost 300 public officials, real estate developers, architects and others concerned with urban development from Seattle, Portland and Tacoma have discovered on i-SUSTAIN study tours that Sweden is leading the world when it comes to urban sustainability. Patricia Chase of i-SUSTAIN will facilitate a panel discussion with tour participants about what they learned in Sweden, and how they applied, and continue to apply, this knowledge to their own projects. Panel Participants:
- Stan Gent, President & CEO, Seattle Steam Company
- Jim Mueller, Managing Partner of JC Mueller, Real Estate Development
- Mike O'Brien, Councilmember, Seattle City Council
- Rich Franko, Principal, Mithun
Moderator:
- Patricia Chase, Principal, i-Sustain
2.30pm-4.00pm
ENERGY STORAGE & TRANSPORTATION – Working towards a sustainable futureOne of the avenues being examined as a new paradigm for transportation is electric vehicles. Implementation of such a shift will require advances in vehicle design, lighter and more reliable batteries, and an infrastructure that will support their use and bring comfort to the public. Moderated by Byron McCann, Chairman of the Northwest Energy Angels, this panel will examine approaches and potential solutions from both US and Swedish experiences.
Panel Participants:
- David Kaplan, Founder, V2Green
- David A.Okrent, Environmental Strategist, Boeing
- Anthony Thompson, Researcher in Sustainable Product Innovation, Blekinge Institute of Technology
- Tim Miller, President & CEO, Green Lite Motors
Moderator:
- Byron McCann, Managing Partner, Ascent Partners Group LLC
Note: This agenda is provisional and subject to change
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For Company Visits schedule see the Business Focus general program
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