Get the latest information at this all-day regional and national conference from top leaders on: • $21 billion in RESTORE Act monies • $8 billion in BP lawsuit settlement monies • New BP oil spill claims process • New monies, programs, and contracts for tourism, real estate, infrastructure development, new energy development, preparedness, construction, education, and environmental restoration.    READ MORE

The meeting will bring together leading scientists with key stakeholders from the energy, agriculture, plant biology, and algal biology sectors, to share, educate, inform and discuss the potential of a new green revolution in food and fuel. Our hope and goal is for the summit’s conclusions to be reported to senior policy makers at the USDA, DOE and DoD and will be used to help develop policy recommendations and guide investment decisions in future scientific collaborations.  READ MORE

The objectives of this training are:

1. Provide required training necessary to issue OSHA General Industry Standards — 10 hour Certification to workers entering the biofuels industry.
2. Provide information to potential employees regarding common hazards identified with startup and operations found in the biofuels industry.
3. Develop skills in hazard identification and preparation of job hazard analyses to identify engineering controls, work practices and personal protective equipment necessary to eliminate or control potential hazards.
4. Introduce potential employees/employers in the developing Biofuels industry to regulations applicable and resources available for safety and health hazards.   READ MORE

An Update from the Jojoba Industry Advances in Jojoba Research & development Production Systems Commercial track of Jojoba — Leading the Way to New heights Harvesting and Extraction

Frontiers of Jojoba Biotechnology and so on—¬

THE OPPORTUNITY

The members of Jojoba crop industries can use the resources to be outlined in the meeting to collectively focus on their goals and pursue them in ways that improve their chances of making best bet decisions. This will involve identifying consumer needs, clearly defining the Jojoba crop product, establishing the human and technical components of the supply chain and entering a commercial market, once appropriate benchmarks for investment, growth and returns have been set. Applying such an approach to Jojoba crop industry, one can also provide a framework for the industry to determine its needs in terms of future growth, research and development

THE ISSUES

Jojoba has demonstrated a favorable response to many of the practices and techniques currently used in agriculture, but research is needed to understand its unique properties that can be manipulated to coax the crop to reach its fullest potential. Among agronomic questions that can only be readily got answered in the programme with assurance are:

Biology, Biodiversity & Physiology

Gremplasm, Genomic, Genetic Improvement & Propagation

Horticulture

Farm Design & Management

Agronomics and sustainability

- R&D status, available varieties, yield, optimal conditions

- Greenhouse gas benefits

Economics

- Economy, Marketing & Health-promoting Properties

- financing requirements of large scale projects

- is this industry attracting the needed capitals?

- Carbon credits

- Existence of meaningful supply chains

- Market demand and its perspectives: aviation, health, cosmetic

Scale

- Large-scale vs. small-scale

- Local use vs. export

Jojoba Oil and Oil technology & Quality

Ethics

- Impact on local communities

- Involvement of small holders

Next Generation Biofuels Feedstock

In the recent years Jojoba oil industry has caught the great attention in the global market and, as the world’s one of the Jojoba producer, India plays a very important role in it. Thus, it is very important for stakeholders of Jojoba oil industry to continuously and constantly to keep updated on the technology due to its potential in maximizing productivity and achieving further efficiency. CJP holds the Global JOJOBAWORLD 2012 as an important event for global Jojoba stakeholders. This event will provide reliable information on Jojoba, market dynamics, and also with the latest issues in the industry.

The Forming and Managing Supply Chains in Agribusiness learning package helps managers to learn what is required to “hand craft” their own supply chain as a way of improving their Jojoba crop enterprise’s chances of success. The package would be of interest to anyone in the Jojoba crop development process, but is specially targeted at those who are close to the full commercialization stage. Jojoba World India 12 shall Highlights the updated research and technology; Experts will meet to reveal the latest developments in Jojoba research, the newest agricultural, horticultural, harvesting and modification techniques, and tell how the process can be scaled up. It will provide an excellent opportunity to the investors, entrepreneurs, renewable fuel experts, their associates and academia to share their experiences and knowledge on Jojoba. It will give them an excellent opportunity to know more about the latest research and developments in production .The Programme would cover all the topics related to Jojoba Industry with Plantation visit. READ MORE and MORE (Biodiesel Magazine)

This session is not intended to offer government insight, nor answer direct questions and receive comments on the DPA Title III Advanced Drop-In Biofuels Production Project. Questions related to the Special Notices or the pending Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) cannot be answered at this roundtable. All comments concerning the Special Notices on the pending BAA should be sent toTitleIIIBiofuels@wpafb.af.mil.

The meeting will be held on Friday, May 18, 2012, from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

The meeting will be held at USDA Jefferson Auditorium, USDA South Building, 14th and Independence, Washington, DC 20250.

The purpose of the roundtable meeting is for the federal government to present further details on the partnership between the DoN, DoE, and USDA to construct or retrofit multiple commercial scale advanced biorefineries. Additional general information will be provided regarding the DPA Title III, the Commodity Credit Corporation, and DoN’s requirements for fuels.Show citation box

There is no cost; however, all attendees must register before May 11, 2012, for this Industry Roundtable via email reg.adibir@Gmail.comwith all of the following required information:Show citation box

Name and Title:

Corporate Affiliation:

Address:

Phone number:

Email:

Web site:

Position on the Biofuels Production Value Chain: (feedstock provider, bio-refiner, finished products distributor, integrated effort, subject matter expert, financier, etc.)

Information and details concerning this Industry Roundtable (including maps and draft agenda) will be forwarded to those registered later.

Speakers:
Katherine Neal Blue, Managing Director, US Climate Change & Sustainability,  KPMG LLP (confirmed)

Dr. Cheryl Martin, Deputy Director Advanced Research Projects Agency  – Energy (ARPA-E) US Dept of Energy, Leader for the organization’s commercialization program to help breakthrough energy technologies succeed in the marketplace.(confirmed)

Lowell Cisowski, Distribution, The Coca-Cola Company (confirmed)

Rudi Miklosvary, Executive Vice President, CarbonSystems (confirmed)     IT Sustainability
Microsoft recently selected Carbonsystem’s Environment Sustainability Platform as its new global standard emission tracking and management for its 600 facilities in 110 countries.

Kathy Pape,  President, PA American Water (confirmed)       Water Sustainability
Subsidiary of American Water, the largest publicly traded water and wastewater utility company in the US

Audrey Zibelman, President, Viridity Energy (confirmed)      Smart Grid Sustainability
The Viridity Energy VPower™ system is a proven technology platform that transforms a customer’s portfolio of buildings and optimized supply and demand-side energy resources into a 24/7 virtual power plant.

Paul Gilman, Ph.D, Senior Vice President and Chief Sustainability Officer, Covanta Energy (confirmed) Responsible for Covanta’s safety, health & environmental compliance programs, corporate communications and sustainability initiatives that further reduce Covanta’s environmental impact while increasing the use of its technologies.

Dr. Jameson Lawrence, Esq. President, BVFR & Associates LLC (confirmed)
BVFR is one of the leading facilitators of USDA Rural Development B&I guaranteed loans in the country, having successfully packaged over $950MM in loans for many US lenders and businesses.

Timmy Nelson, Vice President, UPS, Public Affairs Manager, East Region

GM (an official sponsor of 2012 AFREC Summit) ECO Car Exhibit and Test Drives    READ MORE

Sustainability is essential to succeed in today’s progressing marketplace! It is a valuable tool to ensure the effective, long-term operation of an organization.

It will provide 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.

Although the course includes scientific and technical information and terminology, we assume no prior technical knowledge – indeed a key aim is to demystify the terminology and language you will encounter within the biofuels industry.

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 may be incorporated.   READ MORE

“Advanced biofuels are a key component of President Obama’s ‘all-of-the-above’ energy strategy to limit the impact that foreign oil has on our economy and take control of our energy future,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “By bringing together farmers, scientists, and the private sector to produce fuel for the American military, we can help spur an industry producing biofuels from non-food feedstocks all over the nation, strengthen our middle class, and help create an economy built to last.”

“The Biofuels Industry Roundtable will produce the market and industry expertise necessary to develop a domestic biofuel market capable of producing alternative fuel that is cost-competitive with traditional fuel,” stated Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus. “The Departments of Navy, Agriculture, and Energy are investing in an existing private industry to spur growth, and each department will closely monitor how that investment is used to achieve the president’s objectives.”

The May 18, 2012 roundtable will focus on efforts to accelerate the production of bio-based fuels for military and commercial purposes. Last year, USDA, and the Departments of Energy and the Navy announced that – through the Defense Production Act – they will collaborate to accelerate the development of advanced, drop-in aviation and marine biofuels and marine diesel to help power our military. Participants in this roundtable will discuss next steps for those interested in pursuing the production of aviation biofuels and marine diesel. Topics will include production, distribution and contracting, and best practices. This roundtable follows a “match making” event hosted last week at USDA headquarters to promote connections between agricultural producers of energy feedstocks, and biorefineries.

In 2008, America imported 11 million barrels of oil a day. By the end of last year, that number dropped to 8.4 million barrels per day. In the last year alone, in part because of booming U.S. oil and gas production, more efficient cars and trucks, and a world-class refining sector that last year was a net exporter for the first time in sixty years, we have cut net imports by ten percent – a million barrels a day. And with the new fuel economy standards the President announced last year, we are on pace to meet our goal by the end of the decade. Developing advanced drop-in biofuels is another part of this comprehensive strategy to reduce America’s dependence of foreign oil.

As part of that strategy, and at Secretary Vilsack’s direction, USDA is working to develop the national biofuels industry producing energy from non-food sources in every region of the country. We are conducting and encouraging research into innovative new energy technologies and processes, helping companies build biorefineries – including the first ever commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol facilities – and supporting farmers, ranchers, and businesses taking risks to pursue new opportunities in biofuels. Along with Federal partners, we’re establishing an aviation biofuels economy, and have expedited rules and efforts to promote production and commercialization of biofuels.  READ MORE and MORE (Federal Register)

The National Algae Association is the first non-profit algae production trade association in the US.  In continuing its efforts to fast-track commercial algae production, National Algae Association’s next workshop will be held May 8, 2012 in Fairfield, New Jersey.  The focus will be on progress in commercial growing, harvesting and extraction methods, along with proven technologies that are ready for commercial-scale algae production. Please submit your proposed presentations no later than April 10, 2012 for consideration.

When American algae producers, harvesting and extraction technology companies, researchers, equipment manufacturers, process engineers and potential investors who ALL AGREE that algae is one solution to help get the US off of foreign oil join together in an open collaborative environment, good things happen!  The NAA has challenged the industry to build the first 100 acre algae farm, to prove CAPEX and OPEX financial models and prove economies of scale.  Algae researchers and the algae producers are creating new relationships and opportunities in a commercial environment.  Innovative leadership, collaboration efforts and consultancy have been rewarded with each new press release announcing a new JV/partnership, strategic alliance or commercial production technology tested and ready to be scaled.

Presenting at an NAA event allows you to openly discuss your commercial-scale technology with a group of visionaries who all share their lessons learned in helping one another to build the emerging algae production industry.  Membership in NAA is not required to present at or attend our events.   READ MORE