Innovation in everything from recycling to clean air to energy filled the agenda at the recent Tennessee Sustainability Conference in Gatlinburg. Manufacturing leaders attended, along with government officials and nonprofits. All were focused on economic development.
“We have to find that balance between growth and conservation,” Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation Commissioner David Salyers told a breakfast crowd. “We are blessed with natural resources. Our geological features are our original infrastructure upon which everything else is built and grows.”
The annual conference included several TDEC-run sessions on procedures for manufacturers to show compliance with pollution control guidelines. It’s a place where the Tennessee Recycling Coalition shares best practices. It also featured a panel on the state’s connection to the nuclear renaissance occurring now, and American Energy Dominance Caucus co-chair U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (TN-03) as a breakfast speaker.
“Our energy demand is going through the roof!” Fleischmann told the crowd, stressing hope in small module reactors, also mentioning he’s a big fan of natural gas and noting geothermal energy production, adding, “Solar is important where solar works.”
The Tennessee Chamber of Commerce co-hosts the Sustainability Conference, featuring a panel on the battery supply chain with global business leaders of LG Chem and Ultium Cells. Solar Alliance U.S. General Manager Jon Hamilton added a solar + energy storage for manufacturing perspective to this panel, saying, “It’s really hard to be sustainable when you don’t understand the resources that you’re using. … We really need to put some time and energy into understanding how we use power at the manufacturing level, at the small business level and at the state, regional and national level.”
Anne Brock is marketing coordinator for Solar Alliance, which designs solar projects for manufacturers, offices and nonprofits. She’s at abrock@solaralliance.com or 865-221-8349.
