Like the first speaker on our program today here at the Transition To A Bio Economy conference, our second speaker, David Zilberman, University of California, Berkeley, says we need to increase agricultural productivity.

His talk was on the distributional effects of biofeuls and he had two conclusions. The first one is that biofuels make some people better off and some people worse off. Drivers are better off since they’re getting their fuel for about 15 cents less than if it didn’t have biofuels in it but consumers of food are worse off since the price of food is higher. He says that’s worse in developing countries where they’re seeing food prices 20 to 40 percent higher. This situation he says is causing political instability which will become an obstacle to the development of biofuels.

His second conclusion is that we have to increase productivity. He says that if we don’t we’re in real trouble. In order to increase agricultural productivity he says we must use biotechnology in all crops.

You can listen to my interview with David here:

You can also download the interview using this link (mp3).

I’m also uploading pictures to a photo album which you can feel free to use if you’d like: Transition To A Bio Economy Photo Album

The state of sustainable agriculture in developing countries will be one of the main issues addressed at the BIO International Convention this summer. The Biotechnology Industry Organization is hosting the convention in San Diego from Tuesday, June 17 through Friday, June 20.

Biotechnology leaders from around the globe will be descending upon San Diego, one of the leading biotech hubs in the world, to discuss the most pressing issues and share their unique perspectives. In addition, there will be a total of 36 regional and country pavilions within the BIO Exhibition with several new pavilions, including Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Dubai, and South Africa.

This year’s keynote speakers include Gen. Colin Powell, J. Craig Venter, Ph.D., and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. (more…)

Wood-burning isn’t just great for pizza. It’s great for power. Georgia Power is using energy from wood biomass as part of its commitment to use independent renewable power producers.

Georgia Power and Yellow Pine Energy Company, LLC, a biomass-fired facility to be located near Fort Gaines, Ga., recently signed a 20-year contract for electricity that will be generated from environmentally-friendly wood waste. The material will come from timber harvesting residuals and collection of non-commercial tree species, tree-thinnings, lumber scraps and wood waste reclaimed from landfills.

The Yellow Pine facility is scheduled to go into operation in 2010 and will produce 110 megawatts of renewable energy. Under the contract, Georgia Power will purchase almost half of the plant’s capacity, or about 50 megawatts. One megawatt is enough energy to supply a Wal-Mart shopping center or 250 Georgia residences.

Georgia Power provides energy for 2.3 million consumers throughout the state.

Demark-based biotech firm Novozymes has “introduced a five-step strategy to achieve economically viable cellulosic ethanol.”

According to a news release, the strategy was unveiled at a press conference during the 4th Annual World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology and Bioprocessing in Orlando, Fla. The press conference was followed by a panel discussion featuring Per Falholt, Novozymes chief scientific officer; Maria Rapoza, vice president for Science and Technology, North Carolina Biotechnology Center; and Dan Schwartzkopf, National Hot Rod Association dragster and Ethanol Promotion and Information Council representative.

The company’s strategy includes: continued funding of research and development, establishment of geographically-distributed flexible configuration testing and development centers, scientific advancement to increase cost efficiency by improving underlying agricultural practices and pre-treatment methods, scientific advancement in biotechnology, and continued bi-partisan support of a national infrastructure to support practical implementation such as incentives and tax credits.

A National Center for Food and Agricultural Policy study suggests that biotechnology plays a vital role in meeting the increased demand for corn production for food, feed and fuel.

According to the study, U.S. farmers gained an additional 8.3 billion pounds of yield last year due to biotech crops, including an extra 7.6 billion pounds of corn production, a 29 percent increase over 2004.

Since the commercialization of plant biotechnology in the late 1990s, corn production has benefited by an extra 39 billion pounds of yield, equivalent to 1.9 billion gallons of ethanol production. These continued yield increases will be a key factor in meeting future demand as corn prices hit 10-year highs and corn used for ethanol production is predicted to jump 34 percent in 2007.

Further, the report indicates biotech crops helped farmers increase their income by $2 billion last year, while reducing the amount of pesticides used 69.7 million pounds on the 123 million acres planted to the biotech-enhanced crops. In addition to herbicide-resistant and insect-resistant corn, the report evaluated the impact of herbicide-resistant soybean, herbicide-resistant and insect-resistant cotton, herbicide-resistant canola and virus-resistant squash and papaya.

Read the executive summary of the study here.

Link to press release.

One of the big announcements here at the Farm Progress Show on opening day was from Bunge and Dupont who have a biotech alliance. Basically they’ve created a new brand, “Treus.” This is being done to “reflect their expansion of the companies’ soy collaboration beyond food and nutrition products to include industrial applications, biofuels and other opportunities.”

Low linolenic soybean oil produced from Pioneer® brand soybean varieties, and previously marketed as NUTRIUM Low Linolenic Soybean Oil, will now be marketed as TREUS™ Low Linolenic Soybean Oil.

DuPont has a significant effort to deliver new technologies to the growing biofuels market, which includes improving biofuel production through improved seed and crop protection products; developing new technologies to allow conversion of cellulose to biofuels; and developing next generation biofuels, including biobutanol. In addition to developing corn hybrids for ethanol, DuPont subsidiary Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc., is characterizing Pioneer® brand soybean varieties for oil content to determine impact on biodiesel production.

I interviewed Troy Hobbs, Business Manager, Bunge/Dupont Biotech Alliance. He describes the changes in more detail and what this means for producers. Troy is pictured on the left of the Treus sign. On the right is Jason Klootwyk, Bunge, Asst. Commercial Manager, Grain Division.

You can listen to my interview with Troy here: Troy Hobbs Interview (3 min MP3) Note: I wasn’t using my regular recorder but the audio is acceptable.

Full Release

I just finished up a day at Syngenta Biotechnology, Inc. in Raleigh, NC. Although I blogged the event on AgWired I did run into an interesting story about ethanol. Syngenta is developing an amylase enzyme trait into corn which they hope to have on the market by 2008. In this picture a Syngenta scientist is conducting a simple iodine test for starch. That’s because the amylase enzyme speeds up starch conversion to sugar.

Currently ethanol plants have to add the enzyme to the mix during processing of corn into ethanol. By creating a corn plant with the amylase already in it they can shorten the process and eliminate a whole step. They also hope it will bring a premium for corn growers.

The head of marketing for Syngenta Seed is Bruce Howison. I interviewed him this afternoon. He talks about the process and what this new enzyme trait will mean to ethanol plants and growers. I also asked him about the concerns some people have over the whole food vs. fuel issue. He says Syngenta is committed to making crop acreage more productive to feed the world but believes there’s room for a fuel business too.

Here’s an excerpt from my interview with Bruce: Bruce Howison Interview (4 min MP3)

After attending the BIO 2006 Convention I’m sure that any event being organized by BIO will be world class. That’s what the upcoming World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology and Bioprocessing sounds like it will be. This is the 3rd time the event will be held.

The advance release says it will display, “The latest advances in industrial biotechnology for renewable fuel and sustainable consumer products made from agricultural feedstocks.”

The Congress, to be held July 11-14, 2006 at the Toronto Westin Harbour Castle Hotel, is hosted by the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), American Chemical Society, the National Agriculture Biotechnology Council, the Agri-Food Innovation Forum, the Chemical Institute of Canada, BIOTECanada and EuropaBIO. (more…)

The plenary breakfast speaker today, R. James Woolsey, Vice President, Booz Allen Hamilton, Former Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, just finished speaking. He really focused on how biotechnology can play a role in our national security. Besides what most people probably think of first in terms of cures or innoculants for bio-terror induced disease he spent a while talking about energy and independence from terrorist controlled foreign oil.

You can hear his comments on the role biotechnology can play in the renewable fuels area here: James Woolsey (6 min MP3)

AgWired coverage of BIO 2006 is made possible by:

The #17 Team Ethanol car is on display here at BIO 2006 in the Novozymes booth. Nobozymes is one of the sponsors of the car. It seems like the presence of biotech companies at BIO is on the increase.

I interviewed company VP, Jorgen Thorball about how Novozymes is involved in the production of ethanol. It’s all about enzymes. The enzyme products his company produces are being used in the production of ethanol to increase the efficiency and cost-effectivess of the process. He says they’ve made great strides and that this will only continue.

You can listen to my interview with him here: Jorgen Thorball (6 min MP3)

AgWired coverage of BIO 2006 is made possible by: