Speaker to Discuss the Business of Renewable Energy at CCPO Seminar

Tim Wilkins, founder of the Virginia-based Paliria Energy Inc., will discuss renewable energy opportunities from the viewpoint of private industry in a seminar of Old Dominion University's Center for Coastal Physical Oceanography (CCPO) at 3:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 30.

The seminar, and a reception with refreshments beginning at 3 p.m., are free and open to the public. The CCPO is on the third floor of Innovation Research Building 1 in University Village.

Paliria, which promotes the development of technologies and market strategies for energy, is a private-sector partner of the Virginia Coastal Energy Research Consortium (VCERC), which is headquartered at ODU and led by Patrick Hatcher, ODU's Batten Endowed Chair in Physical Sciences. VCERC is exploring alternative energy options ranging from algae-to-biodiesel fuel production to off-shore wind farms for the generation of electricity.

Wilkins will discuss the need for increased ocean science in energy projects and how oceanographers and energy industry can work effectively together.

Before forming Paliria, Wilkins worked as a government relations representative for the American Chemistry Council, as well as a political consultant and fund raiser.