(382c) Sustainable Production of Liquid Transportation Fuels from Biomass - from Fields to Wheels

The global supply & demand equation for liquid transportation fuels is being strongly affected by three global forces: (1) rapid increase in demand, especially in China, India, and Latin America; (2) increasing concerns about climate change and attendant expectations around GHG emission reductions; and (3) concerns about national energy security in the USA and elsewhere. In addition to these global forces, there a multitude of local drivers for new fuels development that taken together constitute a fourth influence that is nearly global in scope.

The development of new biofuels technologies offers the prospect of simultaneously addressing all of these forces, but not every proposed solutionhas an equal impact, and some may even offer a net loss in some or all of the key areas. This presentation will discuss some of the critical factors involved in selecting crops or other feedstocs, as well as conversion technologies, in order to develop economically and environmentally sustainable biofuels solutions.