U of I
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Bioenergy leaders to explore progress toward sustainable fuels
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[June 16, 2012]
URBANA -- Scientists from over 12
countries in South and North America will come together to discuss
progress toward sustainable fuels from a federal and industry
perspective. The 3rd Pan American Congress on Plants and Bioenergy
encompasses genomics, genetics and plant breeding, advances in plant
biology and biochemistry for improved bioenergy and biofuels
production and quality, and mitigating the environmental impacts of
bioenergy production. Many of the major public and private
initiatives in biofuels are represented. The conference will be July
15-18 at the I-Hotel and Conference Center of the University of
Illinois in Champaign.
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Stephen Long, professor and director of the Energy Biosciences
Institute at Illinois, said: "This will be a great opportunity to
discuss the explosion of research and development on plant and algal
bioenergy production that has occurred over the past five years and
its implications from business opportunity to environment. Further,
it will be an opportunity to understand how this is being
implemented by the world’s two largest biofuel producers, Brazil and
the United States, and indeed to see the cutting edge of that
production on a site visit." Keynote speakers will be Dr. Sharlene
Weatherwax, associate director of science for biological and
environmental research within the Department of Energy’s Office of
Science, and Dr. John Pierce, chief bioscientist for BP. The
speakers will address how research has broken the barriers and taken
on challenges to rapid expansion of cellulosic ethanol production,
from a federal and industry perspective, respectively.
Over 250 participants representing academia, industry and
government from North, Central and South America are expected to
attend the congress, which is in association with the American
Society of Plant Biologists. Attendees will also have the
opportunity to visit the adjacent 150-hectare EBI Energy Farm and
the nearby ADM bioethanol plant, one of the largest in the United
States.
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The meeting will offer plenary sessions, with presentations and
short talks chosen from submitted abstracts, and poster sessions.
Some of the invited speakers are Dr. Marcos Buckeridge and Dr.
Antonio Bonomi from the Brazilian Bioethanol Science and Technology
Laboratory, Professor David Zilberman from the University of
California at Berkeley, Professor Jeremy Woods from imperial College
in London, and Dr. Richard Sayre from Los Alamos National Lab.
The $275 standard registration covers the costs of attendance and
meals for the conference. Participants can tour the ADM ethanol
production facility for an additional $25. There is a discount for
early registration. To view the list of speakers, register for the
meeting or submit an abstract, visit
http://conferences.igb.illinois.edu/panamerican/.
[Text from
news
release received from
the University of Illinois
College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences]
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