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New Study To Be Presented At Great Lakes Wind Collaborative Annual Meet

ANN ARBOR -- The Great Lakes Wind Collaborative will hold its fifth annual meeting Sept. 25 and 26 at the Sheraton Erie Bayfront Hotel in Erie, Pa.

Several sessions in this year's program will feature new information about wind and renewable energy and its potential implications for the environment and economy. These include a special presentation on a recent study by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory on how renewable energy sources could supply 80 percent of electricity demand in 2050 using technologies that are commercially available today.

Mark Clevey of the Michigan Energy Office, and co-chair of the Great Lakes Wind Collaborative Steering Committee, said: "I'm very interested to hear about the study and how cost-effective renewables can be more effectively integrated into the U.S. electricity grid. Such integration could have significant positive benefits on our communities, economy, environment, national security and society at large."

The program also features a keynote address by Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Michael Krancer, who will address the importance of sustaining momentum for wind power in the Great Lakes region.

The program also features the release of a new study showing the jobs and economic development impacts of offshore wind energy in the Great Lakes region. Tony Logan, Great Lakes Wind Collaborative Steering Committee co-chair and U.S. Dept. of Agriculture liaison, added: "This analysis will help quantify the potential jobs that the offshore wind industry alone could bring to Great Lakes communities."

Additional sessions will address public engagement, the wind energy supply chain, and efforts to protect birds and other wildlife.

The agenda, registration, and travel and lodging information is available on the GLWC website at http://www.glc.org/energy/wind/conf2012.html.

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