ADVANCING
RENEWABLE ENERGY
By Jim Nicholson
Attendees found themselves playing musical chairs in America’s
Center Hall 1 as the “Advancing Renewable Energy: An American
Rural Renaissance” Conference drew an overflow crowd of more
than 1,500, which overwhelmed capacity seating. Nametags announced
utility and energy CEOs, federal, state and local officials,
individuals of both note and common interest from the private
sector and a large national media contingent. Early networking
resembled a massive high school reunion as nametags were read
before faces were registered and start-and-stop conversations
advanced to serious discussions. The first ever joint U.S. Department
of Energy/Department of Agriculture Conference drew individuals
from Illinois farms to the White House and, from October 10
through the 12th, made downtown St. Louis the National Center
of Bioenergy Discussion.
In the Exhibition Hall next door, over 50 active corporate and
government active exhibitors conversed with curious attendees
and innumerable brochures changed hands. “Scientific poster
displays” provided more information for the curious, while cyber
cafes were available for rapid deployment of information to
home institutions.
Potential investors gleaned information both actively (in Conference
sessions) and passively (from the plethora of brochures), while
eyeballing nametags and buttonholing myriad CEOs and Departmental
Secretaries—including DOE Secretary Samuel Bodman and USDA Secretary
Mike Johanns, and President Bush with the closing Conference
comments. Energy was in the air, as well as under discussion.
A brief history, provided by Patricia Woertz, president and
CEO of Archer Daniels Midland Company, established in the Conference’s
first presentation that the concept of renewable fuel is anything
but a new one. Ethanol fueled the first engine. Rudolf Diesel’s
prototype ran on vegetable oil-based biodiesel fuel. Ford’s
Model T ran on flexible (either ethanol or gasoline) fuel and
Henry Ford envisioned his entire fleet running on renewable
fuel. Sixty million gallons of ethanol were produced during
World War l. More was produced during World War ll. Outside
early or wartime production, however, fossil fuel has reigned
supreme and, with consumption—augmented spectacularly by demand
from China—constantly on the increase, the supply is rapidly
being outpaced by the demand.
The consensus sentiment of the Conference is that the time for
renewable energy has come of age, and that it might well become
the potential largest new market for rural America. Consensus
ended as soon as different speakers began to address the means
of production, standards, potential ingredients and virtually
everything else having to do with renewable energy. At times,
one speaker contradicted another. Red Cavaney, president and
CEO of the American Petroleum Institute, for instance, indicated
that the Institute is not opposed to the development of alternative
forms of energy, while Vinod Khosla, the founder of Khosla Ventures
and co-founder of Sun Microsystems, observed that the oil industry
is actively working to stymie such development. John Deere Chairman
and CEO, Robert W. Lane extolled his company’s community wind
model, which partners Deere with farmers to produce energy from
wind farms.
Key elements of the Bush Administration’s Advanced Energy Initiative
including biomass, wind and solar research were addressed, as
was the goal of advancing the consumption of biofuels from five
percent to 25 percent in the next quarter-century. Meanwhile,
participants in first day Breakout Sessions, with participants
ranging from corporate executives to academics to politicians,
focused on liquid fuels and bioproducts or electricity and heat,
and addressed means of identifying pathways to rapid deployment
of renewable energy technologies, the identification of potential
bottlenecks on these pathways, and the methods of making policy
recommendations for resolving these issues.
With over 1,500 national leaders in the renewable energy sector
in attendance, locating the conference in St. Louis should prove
especially timely for the region’s solid potential as the heart
of the BioBelt to also become a national center of BioEnergy.
The RCGA’s two year old BioFuels Working Group, chaired by Dr.
Ganesh Kishore, DuPont’s agriculture and nutrition vice president-technology,
has assembled a collaboration of scientists, business, academic,
economic development and civic leaders to chart St. Louis’ role
in this rapidly emerging sector. To support this increasingly
active role, the Conference also served as the forum to announce
the establishment of the Center for Evergreen Energy (CE2),
an independent national center, to be based in St. Louis, created
to serve as a national clearinghouse that incorporates both
the technical and policy aspects of the bioenergy sector.
For additional information on the BioBelt, please visit
the St. Louis Regional Chamber & Growth Association (RCGA)
website. http://www.gotostlouis.org/x1734.xml
