Chris Somerville: Biofuels: Chen-Huang Sustainable Energy Lecture

This talk was originally scheduled for March 18, 2007.

The full title of the talk is
Development of Cellulosic Biofuels

This event was digitally recorded and is available for viewing on the Caltech Theater site.

The earth receives approximately 3500 times as much energy from the sun each year as total projected human energy use in 2050. Because plants can be deployed on a large scale to capture and store solar energy, it may become possible to use photosynthesis for large-scale production of renewable carbon-neutral energy. In considering this possibility, the U.S. Secretary of Energy has called for the replacement of 30% of the liquid fuels used in the United States by cellulosic biofuels by 2030. Some of the technical issues that must be addressed in order to reach this goal will be discussed.

Christopher Somerville, one of the world's leading authorities on the conversion of plant cellulose to energy, is a professor of plant and microbial biology at UC Berkeley, and the director of the Energy Biosciences Institute (EBI), the world's first research institution solely dedicated to the new field of energy bioscience. Initially focusing on the development of next-generation biofuels, the Institute will also look into various applications of biology to the energy sector. The EBI represents a unique collaboration between the University of California, Berkeley, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the University of Illinois, and BP, which will support the Institute with a 10-year, $500-million grant.

www.energybiosciencesinstitute.org