Friday, May 30, 2008
Auburn University, AL
Steve Taylor demonstrates Mobile Gasifier for Senator Sessions
Earlier today, U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions visited the Auburn University campus to participate in a roundtable discussion with faculty and students concerning the current “food vs fuel” debate, and to attend a demonstration of AU’s mobile biomass gasification unit.
In remarks to a small group of trustees, faculty, and students, Sessions praised AU researchers for seeking alternative fuel sources that can be used to meet America’s growing energy needs.
To read more about biofuels from non-food feedstocks, visit our website at www.nrmdi.auburn.edu or check out the highlights from today’s roundtable discussion (below).
Food Versus Fuel: Can we produce biofuels and still feed the world?
A Roundtable Discussion
A World in Transition
Rising food prices
· worldwide increases in the price of corn, wheat, rice, soybeans, and beef
· critics attribute increases to diversion of grains from food supply chain to fuel supply chains
Price increases related to a number of factors:
· escalating oil prices
· increasing demand for grain-fed meat in India and China
· speculating on commodity prices by hedge-fund managers
· continuing drought in critical areas of the U.S. and Australia
· agricultural policies around the world that limit farm productivity
The Next Generation of Biofuels
· Growth in the biofuels industry contributes only marginally to the global demand for grain
· Auburn’s programs are focused heavily on commercializing the next generation of biofuels that will come from non-food feedstocks like:
o forest biomass and non-food dedicated agricultural energy crops, sustainably grown on underutilized and marginal lands not suited for food production.
o agricultural and forest residues, industrial waste (like paper mill sludge), municipal solid waste, municipal green waste
· Biofuels produced from non-food feedstocks have minimal direct impact on the price of food
· Efforts are focused on developing cost effective systems to produce and deliver these underutilized forms of biomass and then convert them to liquid fuels, chemicals, and electrical power
Auburn’s vision for an Alabama Bioeconomy
· Alabama has 22 million acres of forestland in sustainable production today
· 14.6 million tons of unused forest residue and unmerchantable timber are generated each year in Alabama
· Nearly 2 billion gallons of biomass-derived liquid fuel could be produced from Alabama’s residual forest biomass, which is roughly equivalent to one-third of the corn ethanol currently produced nationally
· An additional 15 million tons of biomass could be produced from dedicated agricultural energy crops to provide an additional 2 billion gallons of liquid fuels annually
· 25 million gallons per year of ethanol can be produced from the sludge generated by Alabama’s pulp and paper mills
· 130 million gallons per year of liquid fuel can be generated from Alabama’s municipal wood waste
· By using recycled cooking oil, select municipalities can produce enough biodiesel to offset up to 50% of their fleet fuel use
