Keeping his cool

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As president of the International District Energy Association (IDEA) Robert Thornton has a busy schedule raising the profile of the sector globally, Utilities Middle East caught up with him at the IDEA Middle East Chapter conference, which was held in Dubai in October.

Robert Thornton has 30 years of experience in the industry. He first became interested energy back in 1978 when he needed a summer job and got an internship at an energy policy information centre in Boston while he was a student at Tufts University.

"I studied the greenhouse effect back then and it was like an epiphany," he says, "I feel every strongly that we have a stewardship obligation, as it was clear even then that energy use in the US was in great need of improvement and global warming was a real problem based on the research I was doing. It got me interested in solar, in geothermal and lead me to district cooling, which I have now been in for almost 30 years."

Thornton believes that events such as the Dubai conference are vital forum for an open exchange of ideas. "The district cooling industry is very much a two-way exchange. We are trying to get best practices and some of the things that are going on in the Middle East are unique. What we have here is construction taking place in an extreme climate, there is sand, the size of the plants in the region are often much bigger than those in the United States, and there is also the size of Greenfield developments."

The whole premise of IDEA is that it is not a one way conversation but instead we are pulling people together to hear what their experiences are so we can arrive at best practice. We have been doing this now for 100 years and it is very much a two-way learning effort," he says.

"A lot of people say that this is the best conference they attend. If you are in this industry, the best minds are here, it is not theoretical but it is actually practical, everyone takes something of great value from here, as there is nothing like talking to someone who understands the type of problem you have and talking you through it. Our members are some of the best and the brightest in the field, but they are very busy people so we respect that we need to deliver high quality content - we are an optimistic event," says Thornton.

"We are not a huge conference but what is the case is that the people you meet here are interested in what you have to sell. We have buyers who are keen for solutions and we find that our members tend to want to do business with other IDEA associates," points out Thornton.

The lack of power in the region is a concern, says Thornton. "For some of our members it's the number one issue as electricity supply to plants impacts on business and the ability to serve customers. As to how to best address that, it could as part of a united effort with DEWA or by exploring alternatives such as gas-fired or combined heat and power making plants, which are more hybrid in nature and not so reliant on electricity providers. It is also important to maintain a conversation with end users. Keeping up with electricity demand is a daunting challenge for anyone, we're not interested in pointing fingers but in identifying problems and finding solutions."

Another issue facing the industry is water and how to conserve potable water, how the district cooling industry can adapt to design systems that are sustainable and respectful of resource allocation challenges, such as sea water.

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