WISE, Va. – As part of a trip through Southwest Virginia this weekend, Sen. Mark Warner held a roundtable discussion with energy officials Friday – to discuss alternatives that might be implemented in the region.

“We need to reduce a dependence on foreign oil,” Warner said to the group gathered in the Slemp Student Center at the University of Virginia at Wise. “We need to recognize that we need a full-fledged mix” of energy options.

Representatives from area businesses and organizations presented ideas for alternative energy sources they feel might be viable, including extracting metals from coal fly ash, manufacturing and using solar panels, exploring natural gas and ethanol, hydrocoal technology, and cleaning methane from landfills to use as gas.

“We held the first energy technology summit held in Virginia,” said Esther Bolling, executive director of the Southwestern Virginia Technology Council. “We could be like Silicon Valley in California. Why not? Why not right here in Southwest Virginia?”

Ed Rogers, director of the Southwest Virginia Clean Energy R&D Center, said the center’s staff believes the energy sector will be the greatest generator of wealth for the area.

“The idea here is that we have got to get Southwest Virginia on the radar screen for energy,” he said.

Richard Dell Jr., director of the Appalachia America Energy Research Center in Wise, said technology he wants to experiment with – using rare earth metals from coal fly ash – could change energy development globally.

“We could renew our position as the backbone of energy in our nation,” he said.

Warner said he takes an all-of-the-above approach to alternative energy.

“This has been a great presentation,” he said of the energy options shared. “I think I stay pretty current but I was not aware of the potential for all this ... starting in the region.”Coal from Appalachia basically ran America and was the feedstock of the economy, he said. “Wouldn’t it be great if in the 21st century [Appalachia] became the energy capital again?”