College hosts Business North Carolina round table

The College of Engineering hosted a roundtable discussion on energy presented by Business North Carolina magazine on June 12.

Dr. Joseph DeCarolis, associate professor in the Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering (CCEE), was one of six panelists who covered a broad range of topics related to the energy sector in North Carolina, the state’s strengths in the area, and its challenges.

DeCarolis’ research interests are in the interdisciplinary assessment of energy technology and policy aimed at affecting deep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions. His primary focus is on the development and application of energy system models to derive policy relevant insight that is robust to future uncertainty.

Along with his duties in CCEE, DeCarolis is part of the interdisciplinary Sustainable Energy Systems and Policy research cluster, which is part of NC State’s Chancellor’s Faculty Excellence Program. The group, which includes other faculty members from the College of Engineering and from the Departments of Public Administration and Agricultural and Resource Economics, is doing research to further energy sustainability and inform policy makers.

Charlotte-based Business North Carolina conducts such roundtables on topics including tourism, transportation and healthcare. Coverage of the energy roundtable will be included in a future issue.

The panel was moderated by David Doctor, president and CEO of e4 Carolinas.

Other panelists joining DeCarolis were:

• Andy Fusco, vice president, member services and corporate planning, Electricities
• Brian Bednar, president of Birdseye Renewable Energy
• Star Hodge, State Energy Program manager, NC Department of Environmental Quality
• Kevin Poet, head of plant operations, Siemens Charlotte Energy Hub
• Christina Kopitopoulou, affiliates program manager, UNC Charlotte’s EPIC program

The group discussed North Carolina’s early adoption of renewable energy, how it has benefitted the state and how to keep the momentum going. Other topics included how the industry responds to natural disasters and what kind of work is being done at universities like NC State and UNC Charlotte to further research and workforce development.

In his remarks, DeCarolis highlighted the Future Renewable Electric Energy Delivery and Management (FREEDM) Systems Center led by NC State, which is working on technologies that enable distributed generation and renewable resource adoption, and the NC Clean Energy Technology, which is led by the University with an aim of advancing clean energy throughout North Carolina.