9/3/2013
Residual wood to jet fuel alliance holds annual meeting in Oregon
Contacts:
Ralph Cavalieri, NARA Project Executive Director, cavalieri@wsu.edu
Mike Wolcott, NARA Co-Project Director, wolcott@wsu.edu
Charles Burke, NARA Communications and Publicity Director, ccburke@wsu.edu
CORVALLIS, Ore. – Researchers, educators, economists and business leaders will gather here in early September to discuss progress made and future challenges to the development of a residual woody biomass to jet fuel and valuable co-products industry in the Pacific Northwest.
The Northwest Advance Renewables Alliance (NARA), a consortium that includes many of the region’s leading researchers and representatives from corporations including Weyerhaeuser and Cosmo Specialty Fiber Inc., will hold its second annual meeting on the Oregon State University campus Sept. 10-12. The event is free and open to anyone who wishes to register, although attendance at a limited number of meetings will be restricted to NARA members.
NARA is one of six Coordinated Agricultural Projects (CAPs) within the Sustainable Bioenergy division currently funded by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) with a focus to develop regional systems for the sustainable production of advanced biofuels and bio-based products from non-food dedicated biomass feedstocks. In August 2013, NARA was granted a continuation of funds from USDA-NIFA to extend through year three of the five-year $40 million project.
One of a number of significant advances made by NARA last year was to establish a supply chain coalition, map assets and deliver strategic recommendations for conversion sites and depots covering western Montana, northern Idaho and northeastern Washington. This meeting coincides with NARA’s entry into western Oregon and Washington to continue building a regional supply chain and engage stakeholders.
Additional NARA advances include progress made developing economic, environmental and social sustainability analyses, technical progress in wood residue to biofuel conversion and co-product development and feedstock modeling.
Corporate speakers affiliated with either NARA or the Advanced Hardwood Biofuels Northwest (ABH): another CAP project centered in the Pacific Northwest, will give addresses beginning at 4:45 p.m. on the opening day of the NARA meeting. Scheduled speakers are:
Linda Beltz, Director, Technology Partnerships, Weyerhaeuser Co.
Robery Wooley, Vice President, Process Engineering and Development, Gevo, Inc
Jeff Nuss, President and Chief Executive Officer, GreenWood Resources
Tim Eggeman, Acting CEO, Founder, ZeaChem, Inc.
Online registration is available here. Agenda is available here. For more about NARA visit the website.
About the Northwest Advanced Renewables Alliance (NARA)
Led by Washington State University and funded by the USDA-NIFA, NARA is an alliance of researchers, educators and economists from universities, businesses and nongovernmental and governmental institutions dedicated to helping create a sustainable residual woody biomass to biojet fuel and value added co-products industry in the Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana region. The alliance has five goals: 1. Develop a sustainable biojet fuel industry in the Pacific Northwest that uses residual woody biomass as feedstock.
2. Create valuable co-products made from lignin, which is an industrial byproduct of the woody biomass to biojet process.
3. Enhance and sustain rural economic development.
4. Establish supply chain coalitions within the NARA region.
5. Improve bioenergy literacy to develop a future energy workforce and enhance citizen understanding.