Global biofuel and agriculture leaders met on Wednesday, December 16, at COP15 in Copenhagen to discuss how biofuels can be deployed sustainably, achieve rapid reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, reduce fossil fuel use, and spur development.
Growth Energy Co-Chair General Wesley Clark delivered the keynote speech at the Danish Climate Consortium side-event titled “The Global Potential of Biofuels.” The event also featured a panel discussion with Novozymes CEO Steen Riisgaard and other global biofuels leaders.
“Biofuels are essential to limit CO2 emissions in the transport sector. They can readily be implemented into current infrastructure and can deliver up to 90% CO2 reductions compared to gasoline. The world cannot afford to overlook this potential,” said Steen Riisgaard.
Participants in the panel included:
- Jeff Broin, CEO, Poet, United States
- Milkyas Debebe, Managing Director, Gaia Association, Ethiopia
- Niels Henriksen, CEO, Inbicon, Denmark
- Marcos Jank, President and CEO, UNICA, Brazil
- Jian Li, Director, China National Cereal, Oil & Foodstuff Corporation (COFCO), China
- Don McCabe, International Federation of Agricultural Producers, France
- Luciano Pizzatto, Federal Deputy, Brazilian Parliament, Brazil
- Steen Riisgaard, President and CEO, Novozymes, Denmark
Watch NovozymesTV to learn more about COP15 and the global potential of biofuel.
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Jeff Broin, POET’s CEO, was in Copenhagen for much of the week, talking about ethanol’s role in solving climate problems worldwide, touring the Inbicon demonstration plant, and visiting Novozymes.
From POET’s blog, Rhapsody in Green: Expect cellulosic ethanol to be a large part of [the discussion at COP15]. In fact, there are some E85 cars in Copenhagen this week running on cellulosic ethanol from wheat straw, produced by the Inbicon demonstration plant.
In the U.S. alone, there are about a billion tons of biomass that could be used annually to produce cellulosic ethanol. That’s according to a 2005 study by the Department of Energy and Department of Agriculture. Before you ask, that does NOT include protected or inaccessible areas, environmentally sensitive land, etc. It’s biomass that you could reasonably and responsibly harvest.
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From Domestic Fuel: Growth Energy’s Co-Chairman (Ret.) Gen. Wesley Clark, warned that continuing dependence on petroleum for automotive fuel is not only a carbon risk, but is a security risk as well.
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Novozymes has been honored to have these global biofuels leaders join us in Copenhagen for this event at COP15, and we continue to wish for a cleaner and more prosperous future.
Yours for a happy holiday season,
-Novozymes Biofuels Team
