TVA’s Robert Harris Receives Wheeler McMillan Award
Mar. 12, 2004
MUSCLE SHOALS, Ala. — TVA’s Robert Harris has received the Wheeler McMillan Award for his leadership in supporting the development and use of biomass for bioenergy and other renewable energy sources.
The New Uses Council, a national organization promoting development of renewable energy and new uses for biomass products, presented the award to Harris at a conference in Las Vegas.
Bioenergy is energy derived from organic materials known as biomass. Power plants that produce bioenergy use wood or other biomass material as a heat source to generate electricity. Biomass can also be used to produce fuels for vehicles. Because biomass is based on vegetation that can be regrown, bioenergy is a renewable energy source.
The award recognizes today’s leaders who build on the pioneering work of Wheeler McMillan, who founded the Farm Chemurgic Council in 1935 with Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, and Nobel Prize physicist Robert Milliken to expand the market for agricultural products.
“We are proud of Bob’s involvement and contributions in the development of renewable energy sources,” said TVA Executive Vice President of River System Operations and Environment Kate Jackson. “As a long-time proponent of biomass, his work helps others understand the role it can have in the energy industry.”
Harris has worked for TVA in Muscle Shoals for three years and is program manager for Renewable Projects. He has been a New Uses Council board member for eight years and was chairman of the council in 1997 and 1998.
“The McMillan award honors those who are helping speed the transition to an economy based on nonpolluting renewable resources,” said New Uses Council Chairman Bill Holmberg. “Bob continues to be a leader among his peers dedicated to the growth of the use of biomass for the production of renewable energy.”
Holmberg says the New Uses Council is committed to expanding the development and commercialization of new industrial, energy, and non-food consumer uses of renewable agricultural, forestry, marine and livestock products.
TVA is the nation’s largest public power provider and is completely self-financed. TVA provides power to large industries and 158 power distributors that serve approximately 8.5 million consumers in seven southeastern states.Media Contact:
Terry Johnson, Muscle Shoals (256-386-3076) or TVA News Bureau, Knoxville (865-632-6000)
