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8:30
“Q – Inside”: SunEthanol and the Commercialization of
a Novel Biofuels Technology
John Fabel, Director, New Technologies, SunEthanol
This presentation will examine the need for “innovation
for sustainability” in renewable fuels and look at the
opportunities and challenges of “green” technology
innovation and commercialization. We examine SunEthanol’s, Inc as a case study, looking at its:
9:10am The Forest Products Industry and Biofuels Alliances
Jerry M. Ray, Senior Vice President, Strategic Alliances, The St. Joe Company
The St. Joe Company (NYSE: JOE), Florida’s largest private landowner, has been working to move every acre it owns to its highest and best use. Land once used to grow slash pine for a paper mill is now being used for a range of purposes – from real estate to supplying cellulose to biofuel companies. This discussion examines how St. Joe and other large timberland owners are shifting their rural land strategies to move their holdings to higher and better uses that could include strategic alliances with biofuel companies. A case study will be presented on one such company that recently started operations in Northwest Florida. In addition to timberland, companies like St. Joe own and control hard-to-get land use entitlements that allow for the construction of industrial plants and facilities to generate electricity. Some sites already have infrastructure in place and a ready workforce available. In light of the decline of the paper industry in the U.S., companies with significant forest land holdings are seeking creative ways to repurpose their skills, assets and infrastructure that includes genetics expertise, silviculture practices, road networks and harvest systems. They will need a broad range of strategic partners and alliances to accomplish that objective. We will examine how these large landowners view the shift in strategy and provide insight and case studies about early initiatives and alliances.
9:50 Public - Private Biofuels Alliance Initiatives - Federal and State
Paul Masson, Managing Director, StarNet, LLC Member, National Council of Public-Private Partnerships
A number of new Federal and state biofuels energy initiatives are taking the form of public/private partnerships, ranging from individual technology development to co-funding of venture capitalists-in-residence at selected Federal laboratories. The Federal partnerships follow patterns previously utilized by the DOE to create broad based opportunities for energy efficiency. The opportunities are matched by the challenge of successfully implementing each partnership. We will examine some of the leading Federal and public/private partnership initiatives launched support biofuels development and commercialization. We will look at what resources are being made available, and how these collaborations have been structured and managed. Finally, we will identify the past patterns of successful public/private partnerships, with an eye toward “past is prologue”.
10:30 Networking Coffee Break, Poster and Exhibit Viewing
11:00 Biofuels Commercialization – Ramping up Production - Case Studies of Biomass Gasification and Biomass to Liquid Fuel Plant Development Collaborations
Jack Lewnard, Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, Gas
Technologies Institute
We examine multiple case studies of initiatives and alliances through which The Gas Technologies Institute has been ramping up commercial production of second generation biofuels. We examine strategic and tactical issues including planning, infrastructure, scale-up economics and other critical implementation issues.
11:40 Market Dynamics and Pricing of Biofuels – A Panel Discussion
Moderator:
James Lane, Editor, Biofuels Digest; and Chairman American Biofuels Council
Panelists Include:
Richard Gilmore, President/ CEO, GIC Group
William Thurmond, President, Emerging Markets Online,
Author, "Biodiesel 2020-A Global Market Survey
Other Panelists, TBA
We will examine the international market dynamics and the forces impinging on the price of biofuels, including corn ethanol prices; oil pricing, international biofuels sourcing, potential impact of technology breakthroughs and new biofuels feedstocks.
12:20pm Luncheon Presentation
(Sponsorship Available) or Lunch on Your Own
1:30 The Economic Potential and Financing of Brazilian Sugar Cane and Jatropha as Biofuels Feedstocks
Michael Shea, Managing Director, Vital Renewable Energy Company (VREC)
This presentation will examine a comparison of sugar cane vs corn-based ethanol production. We examine case studies of sugar cane based ethanol plant development, financing, technology and economisc and compare these two sources of biofuels. We will also review case studies and the economics of sugar cane harvest residue bagasse co-generation. This presentation will also review jatropha as a potential biodiesel feedstock and examine the current state of the technology and economics of this promising source of biofuels and recent genetic advances that are being applied to jatropha as a high potential, low-cost, lignocellulosic feedstock for fuel ethanol. We conclude by briefly reviewing case studies of the structuring and projects of the Vital Renewable Energy Company.
2:10 Biofuels Production Ramp Up
Colin South, Ph.D., Vice President, Mascoma
Cellulosic biomass is an inexpensive and plentiful feedstock for the production of biofuels. Mascoma has developed cost-effective processes to break down this robust raw material and convert the breakdown products into ethanol, building on recent transformative research advances in enzymes, organisms and production technologies and processes. This presentation will examine Mascoma’s technology and how it has been forming a broad set of commercialization partnerships to bring these innovations into production and examine Mascoma is establishing cellulosic ethanol production facilities with technology derived from both in-house research and partners.
2:40 Making Renewable Fuels an Affordable Reality
Patrick Gruber, Chief Executive Officer, Gevo
Advanced biofuels like isobutanol and butanol address many challenges that first-generation biofuels such as ethanol have faced on their path to market: energy efficiency, transport and the need to modify existing engines. In contrast, butanol has a higher energy content per gallon than many first generation biofuels, does not absorb water and can be transported through the existing oil and gas distribution infrastructure, and can be used in gas-powered vehicles without modification or blending, which eliminates our dependency on fossil fuels.
Gevo, a Pasedena based, Khosla Ventures-backed emerging biofuels company, has developed biofuel technology around fermentation using synthetic biology leveraging engineered biocatalysts to develop a proprietary process to convert agricultural waste products into different types of renewable, alcohol-based, liquid fuels, engineering suitable host organisms that utilize carbon and energy efficiently for fuel production and utilizing a proprietary process technology to enhance productivity and lower product separation costs. We examine Gevo’s development and the commercialization of its technologies through internal development and partnering.
3:20 Networking Refreshment Break, Poster and Exhibit Viewing
3:50 Algae Derived Biodiesel – The State-of-the-Art and Its Promise
Barry Cohen, Director, National Algae Association
In the search for methods to mitigate global warming the need for more research into better renewable energy sources is becoming clear. Recently research has been focused on identifying a suitable biomass species which would provide high-energy output sufficient to replace conventional fossil fuels. Results of current research indicates that increasing the yield of bio-oil production from microalgae is possible, and would contribute significantly to the creation of a system to produce the necessary energy to accomplish this goal.
This presentation will cover the following topics:
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An overview into the potential market of algae oil in the production of biofuels.
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Processes involved in large scale Algae production.
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Types of algae specimens that contain the maximum oil content.
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Extraction technologies.
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Cost analysis of Raceway Ponds vs. Closed Loop Systems
4:20
Algae Biomass as a Biofuels Feedstock
Panel Moderator: John F. Pierce, Member; Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati
Panel Members:
Thomas Byrne, President and CFO, Algaedyne Corporation, member of Steering Committee, Algae Biomass Organization
William Thurmond, President, Emerging Markets Online, Author, Biodiesel 2020: A Global Market Survey
Dr. John Benemann, (Invited)
Barry Cohen, Director, National Algae Association
This panel will discuss the trends and efforts to promote the propagation and refining of algal lipid oils and other algal products for use as feedstock's for biofuels. The moderated panel is made up of representatives involved in the propagation and promotion of algae as a biofuels feedstock and will continue the discussion introduced in Barry Cohen’s presentation of trends, market potential, production technologies and scale-up of algae biomass as biofuels feedstock.
5:10 Close of “Accelerating the Commercialization of Second Generation Biofuels” Conference
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