Conference
Wrapup
Local Energy,
Global Solution:
IDEA celebrates 100 years of
connecting, informing, advancing
The 100th Annual Conference & Trade Show of the International District Energy Association, titled
“DHC/CHP 2009: Local Energy, Global
Solution,” was a wonderful celebration
and great success. More than 700 industry
professionals from around the globe –
an IDEA record – converged at the Hyatt
Crystal City Hotel in Arlington, Va., June
28-July 1, 2009, to connect, inform and
advance the industry.
The event attracted strong international representation and continued an
upward trend of participation by world-class owners and operators, consultants,
manufacturers and suppliers at IDEA
events during recent years. Once again,
many participants came from outside the
U.S.: Belgium, Canada, China, Denmark,
Finland, France, Germany, India, Israel,
Lebanon, Norway, Qatar, Sweden,
Switzerland, United Arab Emirates and
the United Kingdom. The trade show
exhibition hall hosted a record-setting
95 exhibitors.
General Sessions Focus
on Industry, Policy
The sessions kicked off on Monday
morning with insightful presentations
from Phil Sharp, president of Resources
for the Future; Olivier Barbaroux, chairman
of Veolia Energy-Dalkia; and Tom Casten,
chairman of Recycled Energy Development Ltd.
As an 11-term Congressman, Phil
Sharp had spent much of his public career
dealing with energy and environmental
policies. Sharp's Resources for the Future
is the oldest Washington think tank devoted
exclusively to policy analysis on energy,
environmental and natural resource issues.
He offered an overview of the rapidly
changing legislative landscape with his
opening remarks.
Olivier Barbaroux reported that Paris-based Veolia Energy-Dalkia has 52,800
employees in 41 countries and operates
800 urban and local heating and cooling
systems. The company has combined
managed revenue of $11.9 billion ( 8. 6
billion euro). In 2008, Dalkia prevented
the discharge of 5. 6 million tonnes of
CO2, a reduction of 20 percent more than
2007. Veolia Energy has made a significant
investment in district energy in North
America and is focused on delivering energy
efficiency as a means to improve the
environmental footprint for its customers.
Tom Casten, a former IDEA president
and board member, has spent 30 years
developing and operating combined heat
and power plants as a way to lower carbon
dioxide emissions and save money. Casten
co-authored Getting the Most from Energy
with Phil Schew, where they concluded
“we can't afford to send the large majority of our energy unused, into the sky.”
His compelling presentation offered tangible examples of how district energy/CHP
and recycled energy are highly competitive
