Chu, Vilsack, Pfannenstiel headline, light up BIOMASS 2011 congress

In Washington, US Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, US Secretary of Energy Steven Chu, and US Assistant Secretary of the Navy Jackalyne Pfannenstiel provided a rousing opening to the DOE’s annual BIOMASS congress in Washington.

Opening the conference, DOE Biomass Program Manager Paul Bryan noted that “Two years ago, we could have been called the Cellulosic Ethanol Program, today we are rebalancing our portfolio to reflect the entire barrel of oil.” Bryan noted that one of the key challenges the Department of Energy would tackle is what he called the Tyranny of Distance – the challenge of hauling biomass at scale to integrated biorefineries.

Energy Secretary Chu took up that theme, naming “densification of biomass” as one of the key research challenges facing biofuels. Others he said, are  liberating lignocellulosic sugars, unlocking algae’s promise, and improving the pretreatment process for processing lignocellulose.

Chu said that “energy created at home is job creation and wealth creation at home,” but noted that, in the US, “when the price of oil goes up we push the panic button, when it goes down we push the snooze button. It’s not a good plan.” Looking at the creation and aggregation of biomass, he said that the release of the long-awaited 2011 update to Oak Ridge’s 2005 “Billion Ton study” is imminent. Many observers had expected the release of the updated study to coincide with the conference, and indeed, Secretary Chu had slides from the new study in his presentation deck and hinted that the new study would point to a larger amount of available biomass.

Surveying companies, Chu predicted that “if you can make fuel in the $60-80 per barrel range, you are here to stay.”

USDA Secretary Vilsack gave a rousing speech on rural development, and relying on American know-how to overcome challenges in the US economy as well as bioenergy. Vilsack noted that in the US, over the last 2-1/2 years, oil imports are down from 62 percent to 50 percent, but asked “why spend $1 billion per day on oil imports that are creating jobs elsewhere?” He went on to announce four new BCAP projects in six states, and noted that there is that no better opportunity for rural economic development right now, than the bio opportunity.

Vilsack also noted that “44 percent of our military personnel come from small towns and rural areas,” serving in disproportionate numbers, reflecting commitment to US values learned in rural areas, and said that the United States should do a better job for its veterans in providing economic opportunity in the rural areas to which they return.

“Even in this bumper year, 1.9 million US farmers will make less than $10,000 per year, and we need to do better for the families and regions who provide all of our food, and 85 percent of our water.” He added that it was “time for America to stop complaining about what can’t be done and get back in the game, think about innovation and growth. we have to get out of ‘woe is me’, and shake the cobwebs out of what we do. These national challenges we face are an opportunity” and Vilsack said we should be energized rather than defeatist about the challenges of growth and debt.

Looking at the new realities of doing business in DC, Vilsack said that “the USDA has to be more creative, looking at ways of using guarantee powers, encourage more private sector investment by reducing risk.”

US Assistant Secretary of the Navy Jackalyne Pfannenstiel noted that President Roosevelt sent out the US’s Great White Fleet in the early 1900s to demonstrate US technical and economic prowess, and that many of the same goals were shared with the demonstration of the Great Green Fleet, a carrier-strike force, powered by renewable energy and biofuels, that will set sail next year.

Looking at biofuels, Pfannenstiel said that the Navy needed drop-in fuels, with a better carbon footprint, could not be based on feedstocks that interfere with food production, and can’t cost more than current fuels in the long-term. But looking at the prospect of a Navy depending for its mobility on fossil fuels supplied by potentially hostile regimes, she asked “We would never let hostile regimes supply our jets, why would we let them supply our fuel?

The BIOMASS 2011 meeting in Washington DC continues through today with a mix of presentations on R&D, financing, policy and commercialization.