FARMINGTON – While the University of Maine at Farmington has committed itself to conserve energy and at the same time save money on energy, it can be difficult to analyze and assess the various options for doing that.

That is the motivation, said Drew Barton, associate professor of biology at UMF, for a forum called Energy Conservation-Global Implications and Local Solutions at UMF. It will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. Thursday in Lincoln Auditorium at UMF’s Roberts Learning Center.

The Sustainable Campus Coalition has invited four speakers to address global and local dimensions of the energy problem.

“We tried to get some help thinking more clearly on these issues,” he said as he described how the forum will be divided into two parts with speakers Richard C. Hill, emeritus professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Maine, and Jim Labrecque, energy consultant, thermodynamics expert and inventor from Bangor. They will discuss how to think clearly about energy use and conservation and apply these principles to saving energy at UMF.

The second part of the forum features Scott Erb, associate professor of political science, and Dave Correia, assistant professor of geography, who will focus on the social and political implications of energy use and conservation and how these connect UMF to the rest of the world.

“Thursday will be Energy Day at UMF,” Barton said, “this is also the day that we encourage everyone to ride a bike to campus or work.”

This third annual bike day will include a time on the Central Green from 1:30 to 3 p.m. when Northern Lights of Farmington will be there to give free tune-ups on bikes.

Some faculty, staff and students at UMF, the Sustainable Campus Coalition, have been working on projects to promote a sustainable environment on campus since 2001, he said. Their first project was the Education Center, a green building, and they have continued with projects such as starting recycling on campus and now giving tours of the education center to local schools.

A group of about 25 students meets weekly to determine what needs to be done on specific projects. The group met Tuesday, he said, to plan a program, started last year, where items left by students leaving the campus for the summer are salvaged. Last year, the students salvaged 50 to 60 boxes of items and gave them to charities.

The larger group, including staff and faculty, meets every other week to discuss issues that not only affect the UMF campus but also issues that people address in their own homes, he said.

The public is welcome to attend the forum and ride a bike on Thursday.