Biofuels - MIT Club of Northern California
Biofuels: How Biotech is Changing the Energy Industry
MIT Club of Northern California
Featuring the top executives of the Bay Area's leading Biofuels companies.
John Melo - CEO, Amyris
Jonathan Wolfson - CEO, Solazyme
Bob Mayer - CEO, Cobalt Technologies
Noubar Afeyan - Chairman, LS9
Moderator: Don Keller - Partner, Orrick SV
Despite widespread interest in electric cars, the EIA projects that liquid fuels will provide more than 90% of US transportation energy through 2035. There is an urgent need to find renewable sources, to provide a reliable supply for US consumers and to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions created by fossil fuels.
Biofuels look well-positioned for this role, but face daunting challenges in raising capital for facilities and competing with volatile commodity prices. Biotechnology offers firms the promise of meeting these crucial challenges by improving the yields of feedstocks, reducing processing costs and producing high-value outputs. But will this be enough?
* How effectively will biofuels compete with other transportation fuels, such as ethanol or natural gas?
* What are the major challenges biofuels firms face as they attempt to scale up to compete with petroleum and what are their strategies to deal with them?
* What federal policies are most important to the industrybfuture?
Hear first-hand how these executives will tackle these and other key challenges to build their companies for success!
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Energy and Clean Tech Series
