Campus News

Symposium to explore future of biomass-based fuels

Symposium to explore future of biomass-based fuels

Top scientists will provide insights about the scientific progress toward a future in which fuels and products are based on biomass at a symposium sponsored by the Complex Carbohydrate Research Center on Sept. 17 and 18.

This is the fifth year that CCRC has held the Georgia Glycoscience Symposium, which addresses topics in carbohydrate research.

“This year’s symposium,’Glycoscience of Biomass for Biofuels and Bioproducts,’ is an excellent opportunity for the UGA research community to see cutting-edge research from the fast-moving bioenergy field,” said Alan Darvill, Regents Professor of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Plant Biology, and director of the CCRC.

UGA is a partner in the BioEnergy Science Center, which is one of three projects funded by the Department of Energy to research how biomass is processed for bioenergy. CCRC is the lead in understanding the structures and functions of complex carbohydrates, the sugars in plants that can be processed into fuels as well as other products now made from petroleum.

The symposium opens Sept. 17 with an evening reception and poster session followed by a panel discussion among academic, government and industry bioenergy leaders.

The program Sept. 18 includes experts from academia, government and industry in the fields of carbohydrate science, molecular biology, plant biology, microbiology and chemical engineering.

More than 200 people are expected to attend the symposium from UGA as and Southeastern universities, including Georgia Tech, Clemson, the University of Tennessee and Auburn. It also will be broadcast across the U.S.