KINGSTON, R.I. – October 25, 2017 – “Renewable Energy: Progress and Power in Rhode Island” is the theme of the annual energy lecture sponsored by the University of Rhode Island Cooperative Extension’s Energy Fellows Program and the URI Department of Environmental and Natural Resource Economics. The event will be held Wednesday, Nov. 1 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the URI Pharmacy Building.

The program will feature talks by three local energy experts, all alumni or faculty of URI, discussing Rhode Island’s offshore wind farm, other renewable energy efforts in the state, and research on new battery technologies being developed for use with renewable energy technologies.

The speakers will be:

John O’Keeffe, manager of operations, maintenance and marine affairs at DeepWater Wind, who will provide a behind-the-scenes look at the first year of operations of the nation’s first offshore wind turbines;

Chris Kearns, legislative liaison in the Rhode Island Office of Energy Resources, who will share his perspective on the development of a state-level strategy for renewable energy in Rhode Island, including offshore wind and land-based wind and solar options suitable for commercial and residential landowners; and

Brett Lucht, URI professor of chemistry, who will discuss his award-winning research on lithium ion battery life and storage capabilities and provide insight on how large-scale electrochemical energy storage is critical for the integration of more renewable energy into the power grid.

The program is free and open to the public, and will be followed by an open question and answer session. For more information, contact URI Cooperative Extension at 401-874-4096 or coopext@uri.edu.