One of UF’s newest organizations welcomed students to discuss issues of clean energy, global warming and carbon emissions with four local experts Thursday.
“Clean Energy: When & How?” was sponsored by The Dynamo, a student-run group that encourages its members to conduct policy research and contribute to public debates. More than 50 attended the event in Pugh Hall.
Lance Legel, president of the organization and moderator of the discussion, said he chose the topics of climate change and renewable energy for the panel to discuss because of their urgency and broad appeal.
“Individuals can help and communities can help, but these problems are international,” said Harald W. Kegelmann, CEO of Advanced Solar Technologies Inc.
Other members of the panel included Sanford Berg, director of water studies for UF’s Public Utility Research Center; Panos M. Pardalos, a UF distinguished professor of industrial and systems engineering; and Sean McLendon, sustainability program manager for Alachua County.
The panel spent a majority of the event discussing its own ideas of how technology and different levels of government can contribute to the solution of carbon emissions and global warming.
Although their plans varied, panel members agreed that the entire planet will need to take part in solving these problems.
“We have to roll up our sleeves, and we have to participate,” McLendon said. “We are citizens that live in a democracy, and we have the ability to change our future.”
For more information on The Dynamo, visit the group’s Web site at thedynamo.org.
