Harry Baumes: It is easy to talk about an aggregation and
say, "We've got a billion tons of biomass".
We look at the Pacific Northwest, we have a lot of woody biomass up there, a lot of
forest.
In the Midwest we have crop residues out there that we can use to produce cellulosic materials.
And the development of the bioeconomy, be it bio-based products, or integrated biorefineries
which produce fuels and products, where they're located will certainly take advantage of the
resources that are in that area.
We have ample resources, we think, to fuel the bioeconomy development.
Steve Csonka: Aviation is extremely interested in alternative
fuels, because, unlike many other sectors, we don't have the opportunities that we need
to be able to control or reduce our carbon footprint going forward.
We believe that we know enough now that sustainable fuels can be produced from a very broad range
of resources and from a very broad range of processes.
So, we're working in every sector of the agricultural and energy-related bioeconomy, trying to stand
up commercialization opportunities.
Richard Sayre: A bioeconomy is based in the soil, it's based in the ground.
It's not an economy that's readily exportable to another country.
But a bioeconomy is deeply rooted in the regions in which those products are produced.
And so, there will be employment opportunities, there will be innovation opportunities, and
new kinds of products, some of which we haven't even imagined yet.
Eric Steen: I think the higher value products and selling
them out of biorefinery that's co-located at a similar facility, is one way of making
the economics work.
You know, there's these intermediate scales, and so Lygos has certainly benefited from
collaborating and working with both the Joint BioEnergy Institute, but also the Advanced
Biofuels Process Demonstration Unit, so the ABPDU, and NREL, as well.
And so all of these facilities provide access across that R&D value chain that enable us
to really focus our research and deliver commercial products and commercial processes at the end
of the day.
All of those are valuable in supporting and delivering on the bioeconomy.
Kevin Kenney: It's the chicken and egg scenario that we
face relative to having the resources, mobilizing those resources so that they're ready for
industry to pick up, and utilize those resources of the production of fuels, chemicals, and
power.
And one way to do that is to provide companion markets, so that there's other markets that
are providing a market demand for feedstocks that can help build the infrastructure, build
the marketplace, to be able to provide both to companion markets as well as the fuels
market.
And that alone would go a long ways in advancing the biofuels marketplace.
Nicole Labbé: Developing a bioeconomy, it's a long term
effort.
It's not going to happen overnight and it will involve a lot of people, from the producers
of the feedstock, the people who are working the land, to the scientists, to the engineers.
It's going to take years, but I think we will get there.
We have to get there because that's the only solution, I think, for the future, for the
next generation, to develop a sustainable, clean bioenergy industry.