28-Apr-15 – Not even an erupting volcano can stop a retired economics professor who lives in River North from getting to a conference to present one of his 31 published papers. But getting to Rome in June to present a paper on storing wind-generated electricity could be challenging.

The Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) has invited Michael Stavy to present his paper in person at its International Conference on the Environment – but as conference co-chairs Rodolfo Araneo and Luigi Martirano told him in their letter to Stavvy, they are not responsible for any expenses.

Stavy has taken to the global crowd-funding site Kickstarter to raise money to get to Rome. He figures he needs $7,200.

“Getting my paper invited to session SS-3 Energy Storage is a major professional accomplishment for me,” says Stavy. “The IEEE is a well-regarded organization.”

His paper quantifies the cost of storing electricity generated by solar and wind. He says it is the first published paper that gives the Energy Storage System industry “public benchmark specifications for use in a uniform algorithm.” “The massive need for grid-scale energy storage is new,” says Stavy. “The goal of the paper is to present a standard computational algorithm for researchers to use. The researcher can do an economic reality test based on the paper’s nine energy storage system specifications and on the levelized cost algorithm.” (Left) A “wind farm” generates electricity in Worth County, Iowa.

The last time he presented a paper, it was at Solar Power International 2013 in Chicago.

In 2012, he studied energy-efficient city transit in Germany as part of a delegation sponsored by the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology.

In 2010, with transportation disrupted by a volcano erupting in Iceland, Stavy says he rented one of the last cars from Hertz, drove from Paris to Poland, presented a paper at the European Wind Energy Conference in Warsaw, then drove back to Paris, logging 2,400 miles.

Stavy taught economics from 1970 to 1999 at College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, Illinois. He has also taught at University of Illinois at Chicago.

When he was in the Army Reserve, from 1968 to 1974, he was editor of the newsletter of the 308th Civil Affairs Group, to which he was assigned, but was replaced by a young reporter, Gene Siskel.

As an economist, Stavy says he knows how to travel on a budget. As a bonus, he is offering an expert comparison of Roman and Chicago style pizza, either in Rome if the donor is also attending the conference, or else in Chicago.

Launched in 2009, Kickstarter helps creative projects raise money. The site says it has raised more than $1.5 billion in pledges from 7.8 million backers of 200,000 projects such as films, music, stage shows, and video games.