ALTERNATIVE FUELS EXPERTS ASSEMBLE AT AUBURN UNIVERSITY

As America searches for ways to reduce its dependence on non-renewable, imported oil from politically volatile parts of the world, a conference at Auburn University last month brought together many of the nation’s leading experts on alternate sources of energy.

“Energy Solutions from Alabama’s Natural Resources,” on Oct. 23-24, at The Hotel at Auburn University, examined ways to convert agricultural and forestry products into viable substitutes for fossil fuels. Speakers included high-ranking officials from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, industry councils and energy-technology companies, as well as researchers and administrators from several universities.

U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, a leading congressional advocate of alternative fuels, delivered the keynote address at the luncheon.

President George W. Bush called attention to the importance of alternative fuels in his State of the Union address to the nation in February and again when he met recently in Birmingham with Auburn researcher David Bransby. A professor in the College of Agriculture, Bransby is one of the world’s leading authorities on production of energy from switchgrass, which many Alabama farmers regard as a weed.

Auburn is also a leading institution in research to develop fossil-fuel alternatives from forest resources and in improving technologies to convert biomass into fuel.

Organized by faculty and administrators in the new, interdisciplinary Auburn Alternative Energy Initiative, the conference will showcase the work of AU faculty in developing advanced systems to produce and deliver energy from renewable natural resources. Conferees also will explore ways to rapidly bring those technologies to market.

AU President Ed Richardson said Auburn launched the multi-disciplinary initiative and organized the conference to spur the development of technologies that can help the nation reduce its dependence on fossil fuels while providing a boost to Alabama’s economy. “Perhaps the greatest opportunity for a land-grant, comprehensive research institution in today’s economy is that of exploring alternatives to fossil fuels and developing ways to make processing and marketing of those alternatives economical and efficient,” said Richardson.

Ralph Zee of AU’s Ginn College of Engineering and Graeme Lockaby of the School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences are co-chairs of the Auburn Alternative Energy Initiative, which involves more than 30 faculty members in Agriculture, Engineering, Forestry and Wildlife Sciences, the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station and the Alabama Cooperative Extension System.

“This is an exciting opportunity to leverage existing strengths to assume leadership in meeting the critical need,” said Zee. “Not only will these efforts reduce our nation’s dependence on foreign energy sources, but they will also advance economic development through reinvigoration of Alabama’s present natural resource-based industries and the establishment of new industries based on energy and value-added products from renewable biomass.”

Information on the conference is available online at www.eng.auburn.edu/alternative-energy.