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…“Historic opponents to ethanol are again ramping up their misinformation game in an attempt to discredit the significant benefits seen as a result of the renewable fuels standard (RFS) and it is imperative for our industry to proactively convey to members of Congress that the RFS is successfully displacing foreign oil imports, creating American jobs, and reducing toxic pollution from gasoline,” said Brian Jennings, executive vice president of ACE. “We encourage grassroots ethanol supporters to sign up for this fly-in and help explain that the RFS is accomplishing its purpose and will be the driver to help commercialize the next-generation of biofuels.”

Participants will break into teams for visits to Capitol Hill offices, meeting with members of Congress or their staff about the RFS, ethanol infrastructure such as blender pumps and flex-fuel vehicles, and educating Congress and federal agencies about the clean-octane benefits of ethanol. Sixty ethanol advocates met with more than 160 congressional offices during last year’s fly-in, and ACE is hoping for even greater attendance this year.

“In order to provide consumers with meaningful fuel choice and fulfill the RFS we also need to increase the availability of blender pumps and flexible-fuel Vehicles,” said Jennings. “Face-to-face meetings between constituents and lawmakers are the best way to make sure our consumer fuel choice message is heard.”  READ MORE

At this legislative briefing presentations are also scheduled from:

• Accelergy Corporation - A Texas-based company using state-of-the art synthetic fuels technologies focused on algae to be converted into clean low-carbon gasoline, diesel and jet fuel.
• Algenol Biofuels - A Florida-based company, Algenol is a global, industrial biotechnology company that is commercializing its patented algae technology platform for production of ethanol and green chemicals.
• BioProcess Algae - Based in Rhode Island, BioProcess Algae designs, builds, and operates commercial scale bioreactors that enable efficient conversion of light and CO2 into high value microbial feedstock.
• General Atomics - A San Diego-based innovation firm with a 50-year history, GA is currently engaged in research and development to demonstrate the commercial viability of the large scale production of bio-oils and biofuels from microalgae feedstock.
• Heliae Corporation - An Arizona-based company, Heliae’s algae technology package is made for co-location near big, unwanted waste streams.  Heliae’s technology is designed to cost-effectively convert industrial CO2, wastewater nutrients and free sunlight.
• Phycal - An Ohio-based company working on integrated algae technologies with production in Hawaii.
• Sapphire Energy - A California-based company with major commercial scale production facilities in New Mexico.

We will conclude that evening with the our 2nd Annual Industry Award Reception, where we will present the 2012 ABO Algal Advocacy Awards to Senator Tom Udall (NM), Senator Mike Crapo (ID), Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Energy, Tom Hicks for their leadership and support of the biofuels industry.  READ MORE

• How is “sustainability” determined?
• Why does it matter from a business perspective?
• Which issues (including policy and certification) do you need to understand?
• What are the costs to a business and what are the market/sales advantages?

Designed for those new to the subject, or in need of an up-to-date revision, this comprehensive and time-effective training course ensures you are brought up-to-speed with the key aspects of biofuels sustainability. The course is particularly valuable to those in non-technical and senior positions, whose main concern is how the issue impacts their business case and finances: so job roles including finance, legal, marketing or other commercial functions.

Level & Style

The course explains key concepts and terminology in various aspects, including technology, but assumes no prior knowledge.

The course runs in a friendly, informal manner, encouraging discussions and questions to ensure that participants get the most out of their time. In order to better understand and illustrate the various topics, some simple calculations and other explanatory exercises will be incorporated.

Approximate Timings    (include lunch plus morning and afternoon refreshment breaks):
09:00 – 17:00    READ MORE

Key Highlights

• Assessment of the possible scale of algae cultivation & biocrude potential across Australia
• Open Pond systems with high saline algae – Muradel project update
• Genetic Modification of Algae for biofuel production
• Macroalgae (Seaweed ) to energy
• Downstream processing and applications in high value added products

Optional Site Visit on the 17th April ( 2 pm – 5 pm )

Algae R&D Center in Murdoch University including the SABC (State Agricultural Biotechnology Center ) where they do a lot of molecular and proteonomic work and the Separation Science and Metabolomics laboratory which has extensive analytical capabilities including analysis of the algae and of the biofuels

The Separation Science and Metabolomics Laboratory are applying modern mass spectrometry techniques to the characterization of conventional and sustainable energy sources and products to help improve production, recoveries and quality. The Laboratory is now applying GC and LC-MS to characterise the lipid composition of feedstocks under various growth conditions and environmental perturbation to improve the quality of biofuels READ MORE

Presented by the Bioindustrial Innovation Centre, this International Conference will provide a unique and outstanding opportunity to learn about and discuss the risks to commercialization of bio-chemicals and bio-products. Share your experience and ideas with industry, government and institutional experts.

Canada is one of the few countries in the world that can support a large-scale bio-economy due to its abundant and sustainable biomass resources. Existing and emerging companies are aggressively developing early stage technologies that have the potential to successfully move forward to the commercialization stage.

Join us in the home of Canada’s emerging hybrid chemistry cluster to share up-to-date information about best practices in the bio economy.

Conference attendees will also have the opportunity to tour the Bioindustrial Innovation Centre, a Centre of Excellence for Commercialization of Research with funding from the Government of Canada.  READ MORE

Note: The course can be attended as a stand-alone session but also provides an excellent way to introduce yourself to or refresh your knowledge of bioenergy before attending World Biofuels Markets 2012 on the following days.

Course objectives:

• The fundamental chemical and physical processes in converting biomass to bioenergy
• How and when processes for heat, fuels and power are related and can be combined
• The current and emerging technology solutions for accessing, storing and utilising bioenergy

Designed to be accessible to non-experts and the commercially-minded, this course describes the variety of feedstocks, routes and processes through which biomass can be converted to valuable fuels, energy and other co-products. It is particularly aimed at business people needing to understand the basics of the science and technology with explanations in clear, hype-free language and within a commercial context.

It provides an excellent basic grounding for attendees from a variety of sectors including biomass supply, processing, fuel distribution and end-use; plus investors and policymakers across the supply chain. For more information visit http://www.worldbiofuelsmarkets.com/EF/?sSubSystem=Prospectus&sEventCode=TBT1203NL&sSessionID=e49d6583e13a59aa9a1a0db41ce5091d-8105474

READ MORE

Due to financial constraints, only 40 students can be selected for the program. Students will be selected on the basis of merit (and to ensure that a diversity of schools / degree programs is represented) by a committee of the CEA’s Regional Directors. Unfortunately, this opportunity is only available to students enrolled at American universities.  READ MORE

While there is much excitement, there is much confusion. Where will the growth be: biosourced, biodegradable, new-to-the-world, drop-ins, and how rapid in each case? Will new materials fit into or be separate from the existing petrochemical value chain, and how will they interface with each other? Are biosourced materials really better for the environment? Will consumers and brand owners pay more for bioplastics, or will economics be the ultimate driver? What are the economic realities when comparing bio-based and petro-derived plastics? How much of an impact will next generation biomass have on bioplastics economics? How will the development of biomass-to-biorefinery infrastructure evolve? Which emerging applications for bioplastics look especially promising?

This program is intended to address these and other questions confronting the bioplastics value chain.  READ MORE

• Cassava Starch outlook – markets, economics and its competitiveness with other feedstocks in the starch game
• Downstream processing of Cassava into ethanol, sweeteners, fermentation products. Find out how industry players use sugar & tapioca starch interchangably
• Wastewater treatment and implementation of anaerobic process on cassava manufacturing facility. How to reduce global warming and yet gain emissions credit when you invest in methane gas collection and capture for energy
• Biotechnology approaches to cassava protein improvement. What are the recent developments in improving the nutritional value of cassava ?
  What are the new cassava varieties that can increase its competitiveness ?
• Can cassava starch be adapted for all purposes and how do companies test for variation in starch quality ?
• Update on Cassava projects and markets outlook – Country focus on Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Colombia, Brazil READ MORE