By LINDA McGURK
Indiana Correspondent

URBANA, Ill. — The Obama administration has made renewable energy one of its top priorities, but many challenges remain in terms of regulation and infrastructure for second-generation biofuel.

Some of these will be highlighted during a two-day conference dedicated to the laws and federal policies that regulate biofuel, at the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana.

The April 24-25 symposium targets a broad spectrum of stakeholders, including policymakers, scientists, lawyers, biomass producers, representatives from the agricultural community and anybody else with an interest in biofuel.

“I have tried to build the conference program in a way that provides a nice, basic overview of legal issues, particularly as they relate to building a biofuels infrastructure and the sustainability of biofuels,” said Jody Endres, one of the conference organizers. “These two issues, in my opinion, are some of the most pressing questions today in biofuels law and regulation.”

Sponsored by the UoI Energy Biosciences Institute’s (EBI) Biofuels Law and Regulations Program and the College of Law, the conference will bring in internationally recognized speakers to shed light on a wide variety of topics that relate to biofuel law.

The first day will focus on building infrastructure for biofuel, including incentivizing biofuel on the state and federal level, the possibility of federal climate and low carbon fuel legislation, legal considerations in building cellulosic fuel plants and more.
Day two will revolve around national and international sustainability standards, including issues with international trade in bioenergy and a roundtable on sustainable fuel.

Several of the speakers will cover examples from abroad, including the Brazilian success story in building biofuel infrastructure and renewable fuels legislation in the European Union.

“The focus of the conference, and the focus of EBI, is on second-generation biofuels. That’s not to say that we can’t learn from first-generation biofuels. They still play a large role,” Endres said.
The sessions include time for brainstorming, as well as questions and answers. “It’s going to be a really good opportunity to network,” Endres said, adding the issues covered at the conference, to a great extent, will affect the ag community.

“We’re seeing a lot of farmers who are interested in getting the (biofuel) infrastructure built so we can start doing this.”

The interest in biofuel has resulted in a slew of conferences on the topic across the country.

The Biofuels Law and Regulation Conference is the first of its kind at UoI, but Endres is hoping it will become an annual event.
The conference is free, but registration is required to participate. For detailed information about the program and to register, go to www.biofuelslawconference.org

For questions, contact conference administrator Elizabeth Stull by e-mail at estull@illinois.edu