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LIMBA Round Table

November 21, 2008 @ 12:00 am EST


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This morning we conducted a LIMBA RoundTable Discussion. There was much to report.

This week the new Advanced Energy Research and Development Center that is being built on the campus of SUNY Stony Brook held a 2-day conference at the Hyatt Windwatch in Hauppauge. There were many interesting ideas presented on alternate energy, conservation and innovation. One of the issues that have been the concern of large-scale wind and solar providers is the robustness of the transmission grid, or more precisely, the lack thereof. One of the speakers addressed that very topic. Ed Reinfurt, Executive Director of the New York State Foundation for Science, Technology and Innovation made an impassioned speech on building a power highway that will get our renewable energy plants power to our major centers of population. He claimed that the system has not kept up with the times. He will be speaking at LIMBA in January. 

We also discussed the Mag-Lev train. I met with the inventors at the conference after they made a presentation on the “2nd Generation Mag-Lev” Drs. Danby and Powell have designed and built a prototype of the new concept in Florida. The new guide way system can be built at a fraction of the cost of the original design. The new design allows the Mag-Lev to operate on the same track as conventional rail when entering cities using a modified guide way between the tracks. This will make the vehicle capable of entering Grand Central and Penn station at conventional speeds and then ramping up to 350 m/p/h on its own dedicated guideways outside of the city. 

Mag-Lev is important because it is an electric technology and uses 1/10 the fuel per passenger than conventional rails. The vehicle can also transport trucks in a roll-on roll-off operation. This technology plays into the new energy initiatives being promoted by congressman Israel. We, at LIMBA, intend to make Mag-Lev a focus of our efforts going forward because Long Island has the knowledge base to make it happen. 

We also discussed congressman Nadler’s proposed tunnel from Bayonne to Brooklyn. All of the elements we discussed have a symbiosis and present enormous opportunities for the Long Island region. Look for a detailed presentation of Mag-Lev on the LIMBA website within a few weeks.