Energy & Environment

Last week, Amy Ehlers, Policy Manager in BIO’s Industrial and Environmental Section, gave a presentation in the Sustainability and the Environment track at the 2010 DOE Biomass Conference in Washington, DC. The title of the panel was: A look at the effect of Federal climate change legislation on the bioenergy sector and the title of her presentation was: Advanced Biofuels Technology Trends and Policy Opportunities.

Last week SustainableBusiness.com posted the story, "Bill To Extend Ethanol Tax Credit Reignites Fuel vs. Food Debate."

They write,

"A bill introduced in the US House last week would extend ethanol tax credits for another five years, to 2015. This tax credit is set to expire on December 31, 2010. If extended, the tax credits will provide the conventional ethanol industry with $30 billion over five years."

Rina Singh: Director of Policy, BIO

BIO is involved in many different policy areas, but did you know that BIO’s staff is participating in the biotech community—giving talks at various conferences and meetings around the world.  Yesterday BIO’s very own Rina Singh Ph.D., Policy Director in the Industrial Biotechnology section at BIO, gave a presentation at a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Public Meeting: Biobased Intermediate Materials and Feedstocks.  The title of her talk: Growing and Strengthening the Biobased Chemicals Industry.

Biobased products cover a wide range of materials.  One new such product is biobased insulation made from mushrooms named Greensulate.

The blog Greenline says that Greensulate,

This week in Energy Business Daily “Jet Biofuels Take Off.” Jet fuel is expensive and makes up a large part of an airline’s budget. However, now biofuels are starting to pick up interest among the airlines.  According to Energy Business Daily,

When we look at the challenges affecting our world today, many come to mind - energy demand, food security and climate change, just to name a few.   Biotechnology provides tools to meet all of these challenges.  The sustainable farming practices afforded to today’s modern farmers allow us to produce more food, fuel and fiber on less land with less environmental impact.

Danny Levine of the Burrill Report conducted a podcast with BIO President & CEO Jim Greenwood today on BIO's public priorities for 2010. Discussion topics include what happens next with national health care reform, biosimilars, patent reform, and biofuels. You can listen to the podcast on the Burrill Report website at http://www.burrillreport.com/article-2090.html.

Biofuels is big in Iowa. So big in fact, that according to domesticfuel.com

“Iowa State University will get $8 million of a $78 million U.S.

Can you make fuel out of tobacco? Apparently you can if they’re genetically engineered tobacco plants.

According to Alternative Energy,

“Researchers from the Biotechnology Foundation Laboratories at Thomas Jefferson University have developed a new method to increase the quantity of oil in tobacco leaves. So that oil in tobacco leaves can be utilized as biofuels in future.

Novozymes is an international corporation that is creating industrial biosolutions through over 700 products designed to improve industrial performance and safeguard the world's resources.  During a trip to their Franklinton, North Carolina-based facility, we learned about their work to create more efficient and environmentally friendly laundry detergents through the use of industrial enzymes.