Dr. Wyman: Featured Speaker at Gore Summit
Dr. Charles Wyman was a featured speaker at a Climate Change Solutions Summit organized by former Vice President Al Gore in New York City.
Wyman, Ford Motor Co. Chair in the Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering at the Bourns College of Engineering, University of California, Riverside, spoke on "Challenges to Realizing the Benefits of Cellulosic Fuels Technologies." Wyman's laboratory, located at the College of Engineering's Center for Environmental Research and Technology (CE-CERT), is working on development of new enzymes and pretreatment routines for the production of cellulosic ethanol.
The talk focused on the potential of cellulosic ethanol as a source of renewable fuel without adding to carbon dioxide emissions. Wyman pointed out the financial and political barriers to the commercialization of the fuel. He also discussed the research topics that still need work in the laboratory.
Other speakers at the session included Dr. Lee Lynd of Dartmouth and Mascoma Corp., in which Wyman is also involved, Justin Adams of BP, John Melo of Amyris, Jim Stoppert of Cargill, Stephan Freyer of BASF and John Pierce of Dupont. All spoke on various aspects of biofuels development, commercialization and production.
Gore, who is associated with the venture capital firms of Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Generation Investment Management, where he was co-founder, hosted the conference to advance the discussion of solutions to global climate change, said Elliot Tarloff of Gore's staff.
The two firms are contemplating investments in technologies and products related to global climate change. The former Vice President, winner of both the Nobel Peace Prize and an Oscar for his work on global climate change, is working on a book to follow up his documentary An Inconvenient Truth that will emphasize solutions, Tarloff said. The conference was, in part, to help him gather material for that book.
Wyman's talk discussed the potential use of agricultural waste products, such as corn stover, sugarcane bagasse and rice hulls as the raw materials for cellulosic ethanol, which can be made from a wide range of materials. Currently, most ethanol is made from corn (in the U.S.) or sugar (in Brazil), which have many other uses. Fast-growing plants such as switchgrass or certain poplar and willow varieties, and even municipal solid waste, are potential feedstocks for cellulosic ethanol.