Amongst confirmed speakers are BBC presenter’s Jeremy Paxman, Solazyme’s Jonathan Wolfson, The Guardian’s Damian Carrington, and Tom W. Hicks, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Energy).
The conference will cover a wide range of biofuel-related themes, including advanced biofuels, also known as second generation biofuels. According to Rasmus G. Egeberg from Haldor Topsoe, one of the processes that could make biofuels more competitive is hydrogenation. He said that “hydrogenation of any bio feedstock produces fungible fuels, that is, fuels with the same components as those found in fossil fuels and without stability issues.â€
Aviation biofuels is another hot topic. John Plaza, CEO of Imperium Renewables, believes that by 2020 the aviation biofuel market will have grown to at least one billion gallons per year. He believes one of the industry’s biggest challenges is “to find Technology that can convert low cost feedstocks into drop in fuels in a sustainable and economically viable manner. With more R&D these new technologies can lead to commercial volumes with cost competitive pricing.” However, he added, funding for these areas is low.
The algae industry will also be represented. John Benemann, CEO of Benemann Consulting, said the industry is growing quite fast, not in actual products yet but in production systems. “In a year we will be able to tell,†he predicted.
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