Nov. 3, 2009

NDSU plans bioeconomy conference

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The NDSU Bioenergy and Product Innovation Center (BioEPIC) will host a major bioeconomy conference at NDSU on Dec. 1. The conference is titled “Growing the Bioeconomy: Solutions for Sustainability.”

Participants can come to Fargo to network with other participants and join the live sessions, view the broadcast of the event from a personal computer, be part of a corporate-sponsored site, or view the conference at a local broadcast site hosted by NDSU.

“This is an opportunity to participate locally in a national conference on the role of agriculture related to bioenergy and our carbon footprint,” says Ken Hellevang, BioEPIC co-director.

The morning session focuses on the potential for biochar to improve soil nutrients and assist with carbon sequestration. Biochar is a charcoal-like material resulting from the chemical decomposition of condensed organic substances with heat.

Two options are available during each of the two-hour afternoon sessions. Session one topics are net greenhouse gas emission from biofuel systems and nontraditional feedstocks for ethanol production. Session two topics are advances and breakthroughs in biofuels and bioenergy economic and policy issues.

Speakers for the morning session include James Lovelock, one of the world’s most renowned thinkers on global environmental science, and Johannes Lehmann, an associate professor of soil fertility management and soil biogeochemistry at Cornell University. Thomas Vilsack, U.S. secretary of agriculture, and Steven Chu, U.S. secretary of energy, also have been invited to the conference.

To register for the conference, go to www.ndsu.nodak.edu/ndsu/bioopportunities/Bioeconomyregistration.html. If you register by Sunday, Nov. 15, the conference fee is $60. After Nov. 15, the fee increases to $80. The fee to view the broadcast on your personal computer is $50. Advanced registration is required. The conference agenda is available at www.bioeconomyconference.org/agenda2009.

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