The International Biomass Conference &amp; Expo this year provided multiple settings to learn about the entire bioenergy industry. Along with the jam-packed agenda and an Expo floor of vendors from across the industry, this year's conference in Minneapolis featured the 2nd Annual Poster Session where work form academia and industry was featured. This week&rsquo;s blog will focus on three poster presentations that stood out.
Jason Quinn, Assistant Professor at Utah State University, presented a poster based on a recently published paper assessing the near-term potential for lipid production in large-scale microalgae systems, &ldquo;Current Large-Scale US Biofuel Potential from Microalgae Cultivated in Photobioreactors.&rdquo; &nbsp;In their paper, Quinn et al. modeled the multiple regional variables that enable and expedite lipid production in a Solix Biosystems Generation 3 photobioreactor, inoculated with Nannochloropsis. The results of Quinn and his colleague&rsquo;s work resulted in the below map, which shows potential lipid production in the continental U.S. and Hawaii. Quinn&rsquo;s work will support commercial scale algae developers to site their projects in regions where the greatest lipid production may occur.
Kassahu Bekele, Graduate Researcher Assistant at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences in Austria, presented a poster on the effects on soil nutrient loss in central Ethiopia from fuel switching from wood to dung by local residents. Central Ethiopia&rsquo;s wood basket has been depleted to the point that local residents collect cow dung from fields to burn as a cooking fuel. Bekele et al. found that soil nutrient levels have adversely been affected by the fuel switching. Lower soil nutrient levels in central Ethiopian fields can lead to lower yield potential and a higher probability of crop failure in central Ethiopia. Understanding the unintended consequences from utilizing a different feedstock is a vital area for bioenergy research that Bekele et al. well documented in their work.
Piyali Das, a fellow at the Energy and Resources Institute in New Dehli, presented a poster analyzing the techno-economics of extracting energy from biodiesel production waste using pyrolysis. Through her work with a pilot-scale pyrolysis plant, Das found that the remains of the jatropha and pongamia seeds after oil extraction were excellent feedstocks for pyrolysis derived oil. The post-pyrolysis oil showed excellent fuel characteristics with low moisture and a high energy content. From her analysis, Das concludes that the economics are present for India&rsquo;s biodiesel waste to be profitably utilized to producer energy products. By using non-edible crops for biodiesel production and then utilizing the waste for further oil extraction, Das is creating a model for a highly efficient system for utilizing feedstocks in biodiesel and pyrolysis oil production.
The poster session at the International Biomass Conference &amp; Expo give attendees a means to discover bioenergy work that is going on in areas industry and around the world that might not be included in the program&rsquo;s agenda. This year&rsquo;s poster session was well populated in various fields of research by individuals that are doing important work, whether it is finding the potential of bioenergy systems or uncovering the repercussion of depleting a region of its resources. &nbsp;
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<img src="http://images.bbibiofuels.com/img/4262013_11_09_49_AM.png" border="0" alt="Quinn et al., 2013" />

The International Biomass Conference & Expo Poster Session

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