On November 15 and 16, about 100 extension educators and faculty gathered at the Bryce Jordan Center for an in-service training session focusing on renewable and alternative energy. The in-service was designed to provide an introduction to many of the issues in the energy area and to provide opportunities for networking with on-campus faculty and potential partners. Dr. Joseph Dunn, executive director of USDA's National Agricultural Research, Extension, Education, and Economics Advisory Board provided an overview of the national issue and the key role that extension will need to play in developing a sustainable alterative energy education program. Michael Pechart, from the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, provided the perspective from the state government on renewable energy initiatives, including a description of recently awarded energy harvest grants.

The program provided participants with presentations from more than a dozen faculty on the fundamentals of topics ranging from youth programs to energy efficiency to cellulosic ethanol. A significant segment included energy-related community development issues and assessing economic impact from proposed facilities. An evening session featured examples of successful educator programs on wind, biodigesters, and biolubricants. Program participants also received updates from the Center for Sustainability and learned about some of their planned outreach programs. The in-service concluded with a tour of the Penn State Energy Institute.

Presentations from the in-service have been loaded on the internal extension website for use by educators in developing educational programs. Also included are key links to relevant websites and some factsheets from some of the speakers. The weblink for these resources is: http://www.extension.psu.edu/internal/AltEnergyConfNEW.html.

Photos by: Tom Laird, ABE Visuals & Communications, Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering