by Nathanael Greene (Natural Resources Defense Council Representative)   Greene begins by making the point that “long-term environmental imperatives” need to be applied at a global level, and that bioenergy must be an integral part of a …

by Amy Ehlers (Biotechnology Industry Organization)   The group BIO (Biotechnology Industry Organization) is a trade association which is located in Washington D.C. and has over 1,200 member companies in both the U.S. and 31 other countries. …

by Brent Yacobucci (Congressional Research Service)  The CRS (Congressional research Service) is a “nonpartisan, analytical, research and reference arm of the Library of Congress”. In this presentation, CRS specialist in energy and environmental policy Brent …

by Dr. Maureen McCann (Professor, Purdue University) Dr. McCann begins by describing the different plant cell wall architectures belonging to various types of feedstock.  She shows how different processing methods can be utilized to more …

by David Hoyt (Senior Research Scientist, Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory) Hoyt first provides an overview of EMSL and their mission to integrate experimental and computational resources with innovative technologies to support …

by Jane Fisher (Senior Engineer, National Renewable Energy Laboratory) Fisher first provides a general overview of the biofuel production process, identifying key areas for potential cost reductions through R&D and commercial scale production.  Fisher focuses …

by Blake Simmons (Vice-President, Deconstruction Division, Joint BioEnergy Institute)  Simmons provides an overview of Joint Bioenergy Institute (JBI) and their research associated with converting cellulosic biomass to biofuel.  He describes the challenges of the various …

by Dr. Jose A Olivares (Executive Director, The National Alliance for Advanced Biofuels and Bio-Products Los Alamos National Laboratory) Dr. Olivares first provides an overview of the National Alliance for Advanced Biofuels and Bio-Products organization.  …

by Dr. Timothy Donohue (Director, Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, Professor of Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin-Madison)  Dr. Donohue first provides an overview of the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center.  Donohue moves on to discuss …

by Dr. Mark Davis (BioEnergy Science Center, National Bioenergy Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory) Dr. Davis discusses a multidisciplinary approach to overcoming the current inability to access sugars in lignocellulosic biomass.  By quickly identifying key …

by Liz Moore (Project Officer, Biomass Program, Golden Field Office, U.S. Department of Energy) Moore begins with a breakdown of the cost structure describing the manufacturing process of ethanol from feedstock.  She shows how each …

by Dr. Christopher Wright (Research Engineer, Idaho National Laboratory)  Dr. Wright’s presentation describes his current project on the creation of a mobile unit to preprocess bales of cellulosic feedstock into a form that can be utilized by …

by Dr. Theodore Wegner (Assistant Director, Forest Products Laboratory, U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service)  Dr. Wegner begins with an interesting profile of the demand for advanced biofuels, and the different pathways to produce biofuels from cellulosic …

by Dr. J. Richard Hess (Biomass Program Technology Manager, Idaho National Laboratory)  Dr. Hess details the biomass attributes that impact the nature of and cost of feedstock preparation, biochemical conversion, and thermochemcal conversion, along with general …

by Dr. Barbara Wells (President and Chief Executive Officer, Arborgen)  Arborgen is an industry leader in tree production and  improvement, and is well situated in the market to meet the heightened demand for woody biomass to …

Anna Rath (Vice President of Commercial Development, Ceres, Inc.)  Ceres is a seed company that uses advanced biotechnology to develop and distribute energy crop seeds. Rath discusses reasons for their commercial development being slower than planned, …

by Dr. Neal Gutterson (President and Chief Executive Officer, Mendel Biotechnologies, Inc.)  Dr. Gutterson details the activities of Mendel Biotechnologies relevant to the advanced biofuels business space. Mendel developed Miscanthus x giganteus, a custom, sterile, weed-resistant variation …

by Dr. Miles Palmer (Founder, Palmer Labs)  Dr. Palmer analyzes the capital and operating expenses for commercial algae production, with a variety of considerations. His analysis shows facilities larger than 400 acres can be profitable, with high …

by Dr. Timothy Volk (Research Associate, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry)   Dr. Volk proposes a cycle for growing and harvesting willow trees for use in advanced biofuel production. The amount of usable biomass per acre …

by Dr. Kelly Tiller (President and Chief Executive Officer, Genera Energy, LLC)  Dr. Tiller details the large commitment the state of Tennessee has made to biofuels research. Genera Energy, a research firm owned by the University of …

by Bob Matousek (Manager of Plant and Harvesting Research and Development, Agco Corporation)  Mr. Matousek’s presentation discusses techniques for collecting corn crop residues into solid bales that can be transported to fuel production facilities. He …

by Foster Agblevor (Associate Professor, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech))   Agblevor discusses the development of pyrolysis techniques for lignocellulosic biomass at relatively low temperatures to form stable pyrolysis oils. The process equipment is …

by Dion Vlachos (Elizabeth Inez Kelley Professor, University of Delaware / Energy Frontier Research Center (EFRC)) Vlachos’ research focuses on the development of heterogeneous catalysts to facilitate the thermochemical conversion of lignocellulosic biomass to fuels. The …

by Dr. Thomas D. Foust (Executive Director of the National Advanced Biofuels Consortium, National Renewable Energy Laboratory)  The DOE created the National Advanced Biofuels Consortium (NABC) to help develop cost-effective technologies to develop advanced “drop-in” biofuels …

by Philippe Schild (Programme Officer, Directorate General Research, European Commission)   In his presentation, Schild summarizes the mandated standards for biofuels in the EU, and ongoing programs to help meet these initiatives. Renewable fuel production research …

by Stephen del Cardayre (Vice President of Research and Development, LS9)   LS9 has focused efforts on the development of a renewable biodiesel that will eventually be cost-competitive with petroleum without subsidies. Del Cardayre details the microbial …

by John Bøgild Hansen (Senior Scientist, Haldor Topsøe A/S)   Topsøe is a Danish company that develops catalysts and process technology for gas-to-liquid conversions. Hansen details Topsøe’s integrated conversion of synthesis gas to gasoline, which was developed …

by Terry Marker (Bioenergy Initiatives Manager, Gas Technology Institute)  Fuels derived from lignocellulosic biomass have the potential to fill a significant portion of the demand for transportation fuels, but simple pyrolysis of biomass requires expensive conversion …

by Andras Marton, Ph.D. (Project Analyst, Independent Project Analysis, Inc.)  Independent Project Analysis (IPA) functions as a consultant on process industry projects around the world, and utilizes its experience to provide advice to new technology startups. …

by Tyler Ames (Chief Science & Technology Officer, Butamax)  Butamax, a product of a joint research program between DuPont and BP, is working to commercialize biobutanol.  Biobutanol can be made from several feedstocks, has excellent fuel …

by Dan Burciaga (President & CEO, TRI)  Burciaga discusses TRI’s proprietary steam reforming gasification system, and its applicability to the production of biofuels, biochemicals, and renewable power. TRI’s biorefineries are feedstock-flexible, controlled to maximize thermal efficiency, …

by Kirk Apt (Chief Research Scientist, Martek)  Martek extracts sugars from cost-effective sources like lignocellulosic biomass or sugar cane. They employ a proprietary microorganism to biochemically convert the sugars into lipids or oils, which can be …

by Dr. Eric Toone (Program Director, Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, U.S. Department of Energy)  Dr. Toone described the role and mission of ARPA-E, the process related to ARPA-E’s first Financial Opportunity Announcement (FOA1), project selection and awards at …

(US Department of Energy)  More than 600 attendees were able to discuss some of the most pressing issues in the biomass community as well as recent accomplishments and the challenges that lie ahead. We were …