Wisconsin’s fast-emerging potential as a center for the production of biofuels and other products from cellulose will be the topic of a conference to be held April 16-17 at UW-Stevens Point. Registration will begin at 2 p.m. on April 16; the event will run through 5 p.m. on April 17.
View Conference Agenda.
The conference will take place in the Dreyfus Center, please click here for a campus map. The Dreyfus Center is building #40 on the map.
Parking is available for $6 in the lot X. Please click here for a campus map.
“Wisconsin’s Biofuels Destiny: Food, fiber and forest products for the 21st century” will be produced by the Wisconsin Technology Council, NorthStar Economics, Rusk Prairie Consulting Group and the Lakes State chapter of TAPPI, the leading association for the worldwide pulp, paper, packaging and converting industries.
The conference will be held at UW-Stevens Point in the new Dreyfus University Center.
The dinner speaker on April 16 is Dr. Timothy Donohue, principal investigator and scientific director for the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center. The center is one of three federally funded centers announced in 2007 by the U.S. Department of Energy; it will focus on ramping up production of cellulosic ethanol and other biofuels. Donohue is also director of the Wisconsin Bioenergy Initiative.
Four working sessions within the April 17 conference will focus on the economics of biofuels, the effects of bioenergy initiatives at the federal and state level, Wisconsin’s “green portfolio” and future carbon credits, and the technology and product potential of forest biorefinery.
“Unlocking the energy in non-edible plants, wood waste and other biomaterials is key to ending dependence on fossil fuels and creating new opportunities for Wisconsin,” said Tom Still, president of the Tech Council. “This conference is aimed at exhibiting best practices and introducing potential partners in business, academia and government.”
The Tech Council is the independent, non-profit and non-partisan science and technology adviser to the governor and the Legislature. NorthStar Economics is an economic consulting and research firm with clients in Wisconsin and nationally, including the Tech Council. The Rusk Prairie Consulting Consulting Group is led by a former Phillips Plastics executive who is also the former dean of the UW-Stout College of Technology, Engineering and Management.
The remodeled Dreyfus University Center opened early this year. This $23.7 million project added 40,000 square feet of space in the heart of the UW-Stevens Point campus, which is a center for studies in natural resources as well as the paper and pulp industry.
**** Conference speakers and panelists include:
Tom Still, president, Wisconsin Technology Council; Judy Ziewacz, director, Governor’s Office of Energy Independence; State Sen. Pat Kreitlow, D-Eau Claire; Maliyakal John, general manager of the WiSys Technology Foundation; Dr. David J. Ward, president and founder, NorthStar Economics; Ben Thorpe, president, Flambeau River BioRefinery and renewable energy consultant; Greg Lynch, partner, Michael Best & Friedrich; Dave Hollenberg; Pete Coutu, marketing manager for Lake States Regions, Plum Creek; Darrell Zastrow, director, Office of Forest Sciences, DNR; Earl Gustafson, vice president – energy, forestry & human resources ,Wisconsin Paper Council; Alan F. Button, president, Buttonwood Consulting, LLC; Barbara Illman, USDA Forest Products Laboratory; Thomas Amidon, chairman, Paper Science and Engineering Dept.; Eric Conner, senior vice president, ThermoChem Recovery International, Inc.; Josh Morby, Wisconsin Bio Industry Alliance
**** A block of hotel rooms are reserved at Ramada in Stevens Point, 1501 Northpoint Drive, Stevens Point, WI 54481. Phone - 715-341-1340 or 800-998-2311.
