“Increasing the availability and use of low-carbon fuels will bring immediate and long-term environmental benefits by lowering greenhouse gas emissions and encouraging sustainable agricultural practices that provide greater efficiencies and lower costs.

“As outlined in a recent BIO report, ‘Achieving Sustainable Production of Agricultural Biomass for Biorefinery Feedstock,’ farmers will be able to produce, harvest and deliver sufficient feedstock to the growing biorefinery industry in an economically and environmentally sustainable way through increased use of no-till agriculture. The report identifies available techniques for sustainable harvesting of agricultural residues – such as corn stover and cereal straws – for use as feedstocks for advance biofuel biorefineries. The report is available at http://bio.org/ind/biofuel/SustainableBiomassReport.pdf.

“With agricultural biotechnology, farmers can continue to increase yields of crops to meet the demands for both food and fuel. Over the past 10 years, agricultural biotechnology has helped U.S. farmers increase yields by 30 percent, a rate of yield increase that will be sufficient to meet the goals of the new renewable fuel standard. In addition, farmers can reduce operating costs, prevent soil erosion, maintain soil fertility, and harvest crop residues as raw materials for advanced biofuels through adoption of no-till agriculture. In many cases no-tell practices can even result in carbon sequestration.

“The Renewable Fuel Standard in the recently enacted Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 calls for 36 billion gallons of biofuel to be used by U.S. motorists by 2022. Of that, 21 billion gallons has to come from advanced biofuels such as cellulosic ethanol. All new biofuel production is required to meet aggressive greenhouse gas reduction targets.

“Industrial biotechnology has greatly enhanced the efficiency of current biofuel production and made it possible to produce advanced biofuels from a broader range of cellulosic feedstocks, including crop residues. As America and countries across the world convert to bio-based fuels, industry leaders and policymakers must ensure that native habitats are protected and that only sustainable agricultural practices are utilized.”

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February 11-13, 2008

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About BIO

BIO represents more than 1,150 biotechnology companies, academic institutions, state biotechnology centers and related organizations across the United States and in more than 30 other nations. BIO members are involved in the research and development of innovative healthcare, agricultural, industrial and environmental biotechnology technologies. BIO also produces the annual BIO International Convention, the world’s largest gathering of the biotechnology industry, along with industry-leading investor and partnering meetings held around the world.

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Contact:

Contact Paul Winters

202-962-9237,

The bio-crude oil can be used to produce high value chemicals and biofuels, including both petrol and diesel replacement fuels.

“By making changes to the chemical process, we’ve been able to create a concentrated bio-crude which is much more stable than that achieved elsewhere in the world,” says Dr Steven Loffler of CSIRO Forest Biosciences.

“This makes it practical and economical to produce bio-crude in local areas for transport to a central refinery, overcoming the high costs and greenhouse gas emissions otherwise involved in transporting bulky green wastes over long distances.”

The process uses low value waste such as forest thinnings, crop residues, waste paper and garden waste, significant amounts of which are currently dumped in landfill or burned.

“By using waste, our Furafuel technology overcomes the food versus fuel debate which surrounds biofuels generated from grains, corn and sugar,” says Dr Loffler.

“The project forms part of CSIRO’s commitment to delivering cleaner energy and reducing greenhouse gas emissions by improving technologies for converting waste biomass to transport fuels.”

The plant wastes being targeted for conversion into biofuels contain chemicals known as lignocellulose, which is increasingly favoured around the world as a raw material for the next generation of bio-ethanol.

Lignocellulose is both renewable and potentially greenhouse gas neutral. It is predominantly found in trees and is made up of cellulose; lignin, a natural plastic; and hemicellulose.

CSIRO and Monash University will apply to patent the chemical processes underpinning the conversion of green wastes to bio-crude oil once final laboratory trials are completed.

The research to date is supported by funding from CSIRO’s Energy Transformed Flagship program, Monash University, Circa Group and Forest Wood Products Australia.

National Research Flagships

CSIRO initiated the National Research Flagships to provide science-based solutions in response to Australia’s major research challenges and opportunities. The nine Flagships form multidisciplinary teams with industry and the research community to deliver impact and benefits for Australia.

Download image at: Bio-crude turns cheap waste into valuable fuel.

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