Biofuels Symposium 2008 highlights sustainability, policy issues
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -
Converting trees into ethanol
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Experts will discuss research advancements and the policy and sustainability issues facing the ethanol and biodiesel industries during Purdue University's Biofuels Symposium 2008 on May 19-20 in Stewart Center.
Speakers at the event, coordinated by the Energy Center in Discovery Park, will include top executives from the biofuels industry, government officials and leading academic researchers from Princeton and Purdue universities and the University of Massachusetts.
The two-day conference is especially timely as global oil prices have reached record levels above $120 a barrel and forecasters are predicting gasoline prices will average more than $4 a gallon during the busy vacation driving months this summer.
Sonny Ramaswamy
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"Purdue's Energy Center, working with leading campus researchers in agriculture, engineering and other disciplines, as well as our partners in biofuels, looks to contribute to the world's energy solution," said Sonny Ramaswamy, Purdue's director of Agricultural Research Programs and associate dean of agriculture. "Biofuels Symposium 2008 allows researchers and industry leaders to share what strides we are making and how we can narrow the gaps in research."
Jay Gore, director of the Energy Center and Purdue's Reilly Professor in Engineering, will deliver opening and closing remarks both days. The event costs $150 for non-Purdue faculty and staff, $50 for Purdue faculty and staff, and $25 for students. Students who don't register for dinner are admitted free. Online registration is available at
http://www.purdue.edu/dp/energy/2008biofuels/program%20agenda.php
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Keynote speaker Jim Fischer, senior scientific adviser for the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Research Education and Economics Mission Area, will kick off the event with his presentation "Biofuels Research and Development Strategic Plan" at 1:15 p.m. May 19 in Stewart Center, Room 218. Sessions that day will continue through 5 p.m., and a poster session is planned.
George Huber, assistant professor of chemical engineering at the University of Massachusetts, will talk from 2:15-3 p.m. May 20 on his research team's efforts in converting plant cellulose directly into gasoline components. The concept, known as "green gasoline," could be an alternative to ethanol because it can be used in existing automobile engines and doesn't incur the 30 percent gas-mileage penalty of ethanol-based flexible fuel, experts say.
Ethanol production in the United States has boomed to more than 6.4 billion gallons in 2007 from just 1.6 billion in 2000, with estimates that it could reach 9 billion gallons this year. Providing an impetus, President Bush signed legislation last year that requires fuel producers to supply at least 36 billion gallons of renewable fuels by the year 2022.
A federal study also indicates that 1 billion tons of biomass is potentially available every year from agricultural sources such as crop wastes, animal manure, grains and other crops. Additional biomass could come from sources including fuel wood from forests, wastes left over from wood processing mills and paper mills, and construction and demolition debris.
"As oil prices settle well above record levels of $120 a barrel and gasoline prices near $4 a gallon nationally this summer, experts are seeking solutions through alternative sources for energy such as biofuels," said Purdue agronomy professor Ron Turco, one of the symposium's organizers. "We want to put a spotlight on the exciting progress we are making in this field."
On the event's first day, Purdue agronomy professor Cliff Weil and Damian Allen, senior scientist of crop development and physiology at Mendel Biotechnology Inc., will talk from 2:15-3:45 p.m. in Stewart Center, Room 214 A-B, about the roles of maize on biofuel feedstock.
At that same time, Mark Fashian, president of Biodiesel Analytical Solutions, will lead a discussion on biodiesel laboratory instrumentation, followed by a talk in Stewart Center, Room 214 C-D, on the global economics of biodiesel by Thomas Mason, economics professor at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology.
Former Purdue professor George Tsao, now president of GRT Inc., will give a presentation from 4-4:45 p.m. May 19 in Stewart Center, Room 214 A-B, while Greg Shaver, Purdue assistant professor mechanical engineering, will talk at that time in Stewart Center, Room 214 C-D.
Dinner speaker is Purdue agricultural economics professor Chris Hurt, who will talk about bioenergy and the commodity markets at 7:30 p.m. in the Purdue Memorial Union's North Ballroom.
The morning session on May 20 carries the theme biofuel economic and policy issues, while the afternoon will focus on the new frontiers in biofuels and bioenergy for the bio-economy.
Wally Tyner, professor agricultural economics at Purdue, will kick off day two with a talk on the impact of alternative policies for integrated energy and agricultural markets from 8:45-9:30 a.m. in Stewart Center, Room 218.
"There are many sets of policies we must examine at the state and federal levels in the area of biofuels to help create alternative energy sources so that we can make the bridge to the next generation," said Tyner, also a program chair for the symposium. "Key to all of those policies is determining what is most economical in the short and long term for the nation and the world."
Tom Hertel, distinguished professor of agricultural economics and executive director of Purdue's Center for Global Trade Analysis, will present from 9:30-10:15 a.m. on the global impacts of U.S. and European Union biofuels policies on production, trade, prices and land use.
Timothy Searchinger, visiting scholar and lecturer in public and international affairs at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School, follows at 11-11:45 a.m. with a presentation on greenhouse gas emissions from biofuels.
The luncheon speaker is Joe Needham, vice president of the grain division at The Andersons Inc., a diversified publicly traded agribusiness and retailing company based in Maumee, Ohio.
The afternoon sessions include discussions by Huber and Paul Brommel, lead scientist at Madison, Wis.-based Virent Energy Systems Inc., which is developing a process to convert biomass-derived feedstocks into gasoline and diesel jet fuel.
The list of symposium program chairs also includes Purdue's Michael Ladisch, director of the Laboratory of Renewable Resources Engineering and distinguished professor of agricultural and biological engineering; Bernie Tao, professor of agricultural and biological engineering; and biochemistry professor Clint Chapple. Melanie Thom, president of Baere Aerospace Consulting Inc., also is helping organize the event.
Purdue's Laboratory of Renewable Resources Engineering, known as LORRE, was launched in 1978 to carry out research on transforming renewable resources to liquid fuels. Its research has evolved from biofuels to biotechnology and engineering, with an interdisciplinary focus on bioenergy, bioprocessing, bioproducts, bionanotechnology and biorecovery.
The Energy Center, created with seed money from the Lilly Endowment, facilitates high-impact, multidisciplinary projects in energy alternatives and conservation. The center is focused on developing economical and environmentally sound energy alternatives and to help change policies and perceptions about energy consumption.
