Global Bioenergy Industry News
Biotech Connect Examines Biofuels Industry
The first session of the day began with an overview of biofuels provided by Professor Ken Reardon of the Chemical and Biological Engineering Department.
Prof Reardon said that the biomass products available today – ethanol and biodiesel – represent the first generation of biomass discovery, and admitted such products provide little in the way of net energy benefits when the means of extracting and producing these fuels are considered.
Additionally, American ethanol is produced from corn, which relative to other potential biomass sources is a large consumer of water.
But Prof Reardon was more positive when he turned to the 2nd and 3rd generations of biomass fuels, which include lingocellulistic biomass, butanol, and applying thermo-chemical techniques to the process of converting the plant to the fuel.
Prof Reardon said that within the University over 65 faculty, seven colleges, and 18 departments were taking part in bioenergy initiatives.
Tim Reeser, COO of Cenergy (the business arm of the Energy Supercluster) discussed the benefits of Cenergy – such as offering a single point of contact to industry and hosting such events as the 5 May Clean Energy Expo – before noting that the Cluster had the same number of invention disclosures in the last eighteen months as in the previous six years.
CSU, the Clean Energy Cluster, and Cenergy will be hosting the Clean Energy Expo on 5 May from 8:30 to 4:00. This event will showcase the cutting edge clean energy research from Colorado State University. Registration details are available here.
TheBioenergySite News Desk
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