Penn State Biomass Energy Center

Cellulosic Supply Chains for Bioenergy
11 November, 2010
Penn Stater Hotel and Conference Center
State College, PA 16801

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Schedule (links to presentations)
9:00	Welcome
9:15	An Update on Agronomic Biomass
9:45	Short Rotation Woody Crops
10:15	Outlook for Forest Bioenergy
10:45	Break
11:00	A Billion Tons - where willl it come from, and at what price?
11:45	Lunch
12:45	Understanding a Regional Biomass Inventory
13:30	Harvest Technologies
14:15	Pre-Processing Biomass
15:00	Break
15:15	Supply Chain Configurations
16:00	Discussion
16:30	Close

About the Event

One of the major opportunities and challenges for the growing bioenergy economy is the reliable and efficient supply of sustainable cellulosic feedstock - wood, energy crops, and field crop residues. This "supply chain" is a brand new business sector, and there is a need to understand how it is developing, as well as the opportunities for improving and optimizing this system.

Join us for this outstanding one-day event featuring expert presentations, discussion and networking opportunities.

Pre-Meeting Tour

An optional pre-tour and informal reception will be held on the afternoon before the short course to tour the bioenergy harvest plots at the Penn State experimental forest.

Who Should Attend?

Audience: Feedstock producers and suppliers, transport industry, end-use manufacturers.
Purpose: Allow participants to understand and wisely develop the region's supply chain for cellulosic bioenergy.

Speakers

We are pleased to have some of the state and nation's top experts in cellulosic bioenergy supply chains at the event. This is an outstanding opportunity to interact with leaders in the field and gain real understanding about this important and fast-developing field.

Current speakers include:

Tim Volk - State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry
Dr. Timothy Volk has 25 years of experience working in the fields of forestry, agroforestry, short-rotation woody crops, bioenergy and phytoremediation in North America and Africa. He is currently a senior research associate at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY-ESF) in Syracuse, NY and co-director of the SUNY Center for Sustainable and Renewable Energy. He is responsible for a series of research projects focused on the development of shrub willow biomass cropping systems as a feedstock for bioproducts and bioenergy, assessment of the sustainability of these systems and the use of willow as an alternative cover for industrial waste sites.
Marc McDill - Penn State School of Forest Resources
Dr. McDill is Associate Professor of Forest Resource Management at Penn State. He directs several projects on assessing woody biomass supplies and modeling forest biomass harvesting. He also works in the areas of forest management planning and operations research, timber supply, forest property taxes, and growth and yield modeling.
Dan Ciolkosz - Penn State Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering
Dr. Ciolkosz is an extension associate with the Penn State Biomass Energy Center and the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering. He works with the development of biomass energy industries in Pennsylvania, and carries out applied research in biomass densification and thermochemical conversion. He is state co-chair for extension programs in Renewable and Alternative Energy.
Drew Lewis - CNH America
John is the Innovation Field Test Coordinator for CNH America LLC, a leading manufacturer of agricultural and construction equipment with an active program in developing biomass harvesting and processing solutions for the emerging bioenergy economy. Drew is part of CNH America LLC’s advanced engineering group (Innovation Engineering) and has been focused on biomass harvesting systems since joining CNH. Previously Drew was the Director of Agricultural Operations at Cornell University Agricultural Experiment Station – Ithaca, NY.
Erin Searcy - Idaho National Laboratory
Dr. Searcy is a Biofuels Analyst/Engineer at the Idaho National Laboratory in Pocatello, Idaho. Her research includes modeling and experimentation on supply-chain issues for the bioenergy industry, including the development of the Process Development Unit (PDU) for commercial scale testing of process configurations.
Evelyn Thomchick - Penn State Smeal College of Business
Dr. Evelyn Thomchick is an associate professor of supply chain management in the Smeal College of Business Administration at Penn State University. She also serves as a research affiliate at the Larson Pennsylvania Transportation Institute (LTI) and the Center for Supply Chain Research at Penn State. She recently led LTI's participation in a project on intermodal rail freight interoperability that was sponsored by the European Commission and involved approximately 25 European and U.S. research organizations. She has conducted research on the supply chain implications of alternative fuels and is currently participating in an internal project that will analyze the supply chain management of biomass in Pennsylvania.
Ben Spong - University of West Virginia
Dr. Spong is assistant professor of forest operations and extension specialist with the Appalachian Hardwood Center of the University of West Virgina. He works with landowners and forest products companies to develop effective forest operations, products, business practices, economic indicators and other items of importance for the forestry sector.