Biofuels an answer to energy issues - panel

13 November 2007 00:22  [Source: ICIS news]

HOUSTON (ICIS news)--Biofuels represent a sustainable answer to growing concerns about energy security and climate change, a panel of experts including  BP and DuPont officials said on Monday.

“It is possible - if the world is really serious about climate change, if people continue to be concerned about energy security, and given the breakthroughs in technology that now seem plausible - biofuels could represent a significant amount of the transport fuel mix in the future,” said BP Biofuels President Phillip New.

The US Department of Energy was collaborating with various groups to develop advanced biofuels on an accelerated “to address America’s addiction to oil, dramatically reduce greenhouse gases, and make our economy more agile and competitive,” said US Department of Energy Assistant Secretary for the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Alexander Karsner.

New and Karsner joined Dartmouth College Engineering and Biology Professor Lee Lynd and Vantage Point Venture Partner Bernie Bulkin for the panel discussion hosted by DuPont Applied BioSciences.  

The panel was moderated by DuPont Executive Vice President and Chief Innovation Officer Thomas M. Connelly, Jr.

The panelists also outlined the global market drivers that are creating growing demand for biofuels; the role governments can play in accelerating biofuels development; and the challenges and opportunities to make biofuels a commercial reality beyond today’s grain and sugar cane ethanol.
 
“Climate change is a global problem that requires global attention,” Bulkin said. “There is no one miracle technology that will save the day.”

Bulkin continued: “What we’ll need instead is a number of approaches from a number of vantage points. We’ll need to focus on biomass opportunities and how we can produce biofuels from different agricultural feedstocks, but we’re also going to need to look at more sustainable fuel molecules and fuel technologies.”

By: Brian Ford
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