AMES, Iowa -- Nearly 600 bioindustry leaders, scientists, politicians, agriculturalists, environmentalists and developers from all over the United States converged on Iowa State’s campus on Aug. 28-29 to hear more than 70 speakers discuss the manufacture, distribution and marketing of biobased products. 

The theme of the 2006 conference was “Re-imagining Agriculture for National Energy Security.” Keynote presenters Vinod Khosla, founding CEO of Sun Microsystems; Lee Lynd, professor of engineering at Dartmouth College, and plenary speaker Thomas Dorr, Undersecretary, USDA Rural Development, highlighted the importance of developing biofuels as a way to break the United States’ dependence on international oil sources.

The speakers also covered such topics as the economic viability of biorenewable energy and the projected impact of renewable energy crops on rural development. Dorr told conference participants that there was a lot of profit to be made in the biorenewables market for farmers in the Midwest, and Khosla urged the crowd to be boldly optimistic about the capacity of biofuels to eventually eclipse the fossil fuel market.  

In addition to the keynote and plenary presentations, conference participants got a chance to select from 14 different breakout sessions. Attendees learned how new innovations in thermochemical technologies support the development of biorefineries, how small biobased businesses can secure capital and survive, and how research into oleochemicals and carbohydrate processing will affect the bioeconomy.  

Listening to speakers present their ideas wasn’t the only activity on the conference agenda, however. Participants had the option to attend more breakout sessions or take part in various demonstrations and tours of the Lincolnway Ethanol plant and Iowa State’s agronomy farms.

Participants who visited the farms were able to see demonstration plots of renewable energy crops such as kenaf, miscanthus and tritacale. While touring the farms, they were able to talk with the experts who are studying the crops and witness the biomass production supply possibilities, firsthand. For those who remained at the Schemen Center, there were demonstrations on how to make biodiesel from soybeans and how to navigate the I-FARM digital farm decision tool.

For more information about the annual conference, visit the Bioeconomy Conference Web site at www.bioeconomyconference.org.

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