The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) attended the First International Biorefinery Workshop in Washington, D.C., last week spearheaded by the Department of Energy and the European Commission. NCGA was one of several groups from academia, associations, and industry who cosponsored the two-day conference attended by more than 250 people from the United States and Europe.

The workshop included speeches by U.S. Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman and Michael Wang of Argonne National Laboratory. Both spoke highly of renewable fuels, and, in particular, ethanol’s role in the future.

“Secretary Bodman expressed the Department of Energy’s interest — and the Bush administration’s interest — in biofuels and renewables,” said Dr. Richard Glass, NCGA vice president of research & business development. “The high point of the conference was the final presentation by Dr. Michael Wang from the Argonne National Laboratory on the economics of ethanol and its positive energy balance. He specifically reviewed the assumptions presented by David Pimentel and Tad Patzek in their latest study and discussed the merits of their conclusions.”

The conference was the first joint workshop held by Americans and Europeans on biofuels. Several countries and international businesses were represented. Attendees visited from Germany, Sweden, Austria, Finland and France, among other European Union nations.

“It was a well-balanced program,” Glass said. “There were approximately four speakers for each panel, with two from the U.S. and two from Europe. The format added a different point of view. There were different perspectives but they all shared the same goal: renewable energy.”

Volkswagen, Saab and Daimler Chrsyler were three major automobile manufacturers that attended. All automobile manufacturers agreed that biofuels need to meet specific technical specifications to avoid invalidating their engine warranties.

Last reviewed July 27, 2005