| M&G / GBEP conference to examine potential for second-generation bioethanol
Second-generation biofuels are still some years from commercial production, much effort and funding is being poured into research and development because of the social, economic and environmental benefits they could offer. As part of this process, the Global Bioenergy Partnership (GBEP) and Italian company Mossi & Ghisolfi (M&G) have organised a conference to discuss the outlook for second-generation bioethanol technologies.
The one-day event has been conceived to bring together major experts from various disciplines as a way of stimulating debate and the sharing of ideas, with the objective of highlighting the importance of agronomic research supporting technological development. The conference, "Second-Generation Bioethanol: a realistic challenge", will be held in Tortona, Italy, on Tuesday February 5.
Second-generation biofuel technologies rely on the conversion of cellulosic biomass, a vastly abundant category that includes wood, tall grasses and forestry and crop residues. Its advantages outstrip those of current technologies because more biomass is produced per hectare (when compared with production from sugar cane, for example, twice the energy output per unit of land can be generated); because these feedstocks don’t compete with food crops; and because the potential greenhouse-gas savings on offer are significant, in the order of 90%.
Mossi & Ghisolfi, a family-owned company in Tortona, is the largest privately held chemical company in Italy and world’s biggest producer of PET for packaging applications. Through Chemtex International Inc., the company provides engineering, procurement and construction management in the fields of polyester, refining, chemicals and biofuels. GBEP, established to implement the commitments taken by G8 +5 countries in the Gleneagles Plan of Action in 2005, and renewed at the 2007 Heiligendamm G8 Summit, promotes global policy dialogue on bioenergy and facilitates international cooperation on this issue, supporting national and regional policy-making and market development.
The conference’s morning session, chaired by Luigi Nicolais, Italian Minister for Innovation and Technologies, will focus on the “Strategy for Cellulosic Ethanol”. Speakers will include Guido Ghisolfi, vice president of M&G Group, and Corrado Clini, GBEP chairman. Presentations will also be made by John Ranieri, vice president and general manager of DuPont Bio-Based Materials; Professor Daniel I.C. Wang of the Department of Chemical Engineering at the MIT - Massachusetts Institute of Technology; and Edoardo Zanchini, Legambiente’s national manager of urban areas and transport.
The afternoon session will look into “Research and technology development to enable second-generation ethanol” and will be chaired by Andrea Bairati, councillor for research, university and innovation for the Piedmont Region. The following are due to speak during the session: Guido Saracco, Department Director of Materials Science and Engineering Chemistry at the Politecnico of Turin; James Barber, professor of biochemistry at the Imperial College of London; Giuseppe Manara, vice president and southern operations manager at Pioneer; Guido Zacchi, professor of chemical engineering at the University of Lund; and Dario Giordano, global director of corporate research & development at M&G Group.
Full details can be found on the www.formazione.ilsole24ore.com conference website.
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