By DOUG GRAVES
Ohio Correspondent

AMES, Iowa — Agriculture’s contribution to carbon footprinting and greenhouse gases is noted in headlines across the country. But on Dec. 1, 12 Midwest universities are collaborating to host a virtual conference that suggests agriculture can clean the planet.

Participants in the Farm World readership area include Iowa State University, Michigan State University, Ohio State University and Purdue University. The message of this year’s Bio eConference – “Growing the Bioeconomy: Solutions for Sustainability” – will be shown through high-speed communication systems to promote agriculturally-based sustainable solutions to global climate change and energy supply.

“This conference will feature speakers offering solutions for sustainability,” said Paul Brown, assistant director for ISU extension and the conference’s chair.

Twenty-one speakers will address such issues as net greenhouse gas emission from biofuel systems, non-traditional feedstocks, breakthroughs in biofuel and bioenergy economic and policy issues.
According to Brown, the conference will tackle the sustainability challenge by exploring a systems perspective on biorenewables, examining the potential role of biochar (charcoal created by the chemical decomposition of biomass) as an agent for carbon sequestration and discussing the implementation of new ideas for land stewardship with biofuel agriculture.

The keynote speaker will be Dr. James E. Lovelock. “Dr. Lovelock is one of the world’s most renowned thinkers on global environmental science,” Brown said. “He has called upon farmers to convert agricultural residues to biochar for incorporation in to the soil as the only solution to global climate change.”

Lovelock is the author of more than 200 scientific papers, distributed almost equally among topics in medicine, biology, instrument and atmospheric science and geophysiology. He has applied for more than 40 patents. Lovelock’s presentation will be delivered via live feed to all participants.

The morning plenary session also will include presentations by Johannes Lehman, associate professor of soil fertility management and soil biogeochemistry at Cornell University, and Matt Liebman, Wallace Chair for sustainable agriculture at Iowa State University.
Lehman will discuss the combined benefit of biochar for carbon sequestration and improved soil fertility. Liebman will present research findings on integrating conservation with biofuel feedstock production.

“This is the seventh bioeconomy conference Iowa State University has hosted, but the first time ISU has collaborated with 11 other universities to simultaneously hold the conference,” Brown said. “Last year participants came from 23 states. It just made sense to form an alliance and work together instead of competing and repeating efforts.”

The first Ames conference, held in 2002, was an introduction to bioeconomy.

Participants of this conference have the option of attending at a state-sponsored site, signing on as a corporate location or logging into the conference from anywhere in the world. ISU will manage the conference registration and virtual conference technology. Specific information about participation options and registration are available at www.bioeconomyconference.org