The Future of Biofuels:
Can This Green Energy Pay Off – and Save the Planet?
August 26, 2009
4:30 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Milken Institute
From corn and sugar to grass and algae, biofuels have exciting potential to fight climate change and reduce our dependence on oil. As a result, investment in this renewable energy source has been steadily climbing.
From 2008 to 2018, biofuel revenue is predicted to leap from $34.8 billion to $105.4 billion annually. Major market players have begun to invest significant capital in the sector. Exxon, for example, is investing $600 million in Craig Venter's Synthetic Genomics, a company focused on developing biofuel from algae. Additionally, Boeing successfully tested several bio-jet-fuel blends in late 2008 and early 2009.
Still, significant technological and financial hurdles remain, and scientists continue to debate the environmental pros and cons of biofuel production.
This Forum brought together a panel of biofuel experts to talk about the growth of this sector and its potential for creating a greener economy. They discussed current energy trends, scientific advances, environmental impacts, regulatory constraints and the challenges and opportunities for investors and businesses.
Speakers:
• Roger Conway is director of the Office of Energy Policy and New Uses at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He frequently writes about global warming, international trade, commodity policy, agricultural investment and macroeconomic policy. Conway has received the USDA's Distinguished Service Award in biofuel activities.
• Daniel Gardenswartz is a founding partner of The Sage Group LLC, a Los Angeles-based boutique merchant banking firm. A former employee of ING Barings and Citigroup, his experience includes a wide range of advisory assignments and principal investments, primarily in the automotive, telecommunications, chemical and pharmaceutical, and consumer products industries. He is a board member of Plymouth Health LLC and a former board member of California-based Altra Biofuels.
• Richard Hamilton is president and CEO of Ceres, a company that is developing dedicated energy crops for a new generation of biofuels. He also sits on the U.S. Department of Energy's Biomass R&D Technical Advisory Committee. A founding member of the Council for Sustainable Biomass Production, he is also a former vice chairman of the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO).
Moderator:
• Joel Kurtzman is a senior fellow at the Milken Institute and executive director of the Institute's SAVE initiative, which focuses on renewable energy, climate change and energy security. Previously he was global lead partner for thought leadership and innovation at PricewaterhouseCoopers. He has also served as executive editor of the Harvard Business Review and a business editor and columnist at The New York Times.
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