Sustainable Production & Supply of Biomass in NY
November 12 - 14, 2008
Oswego BOCES, Mexico, NY

Demonstration of the Willow Biomass Harvester in Belleville

Case New Holland

Field Trips

• Lyonsdale Biomass - Lyons Falls, NY
• Northeast Biofuels - Fulton, NY

Check-in and Continental Breakfast

Welcome and Introduction

Emily Gillis, Project Coordinator, ESF Outreach

Dr. Timothy Volk, Research Associate, Forest & Natural Resources Management, SUNY-ESF

Overview of Biomass Supplies and Bioenergy Systems

Biomass can be produced sustainably from a wide array of sources from the forestry and agriculture sectors.   This session will provide an overview of the status of biofuels and bioenergy in NY, potential biomass resources and examples of projects that are being developed in the region.

• The Federal Perspective of Biofuels and Bioenergy
  Edwin White, Professor Emeritus, Forest & Natural Resources Management, SUNY-ESF
• Potential Biomass in NY (NY's Perspective)
  Ron Rausch, Associate Environmental Analyst, NYS Department of Agriculture and Markets
• Creating Bioenergy and Biofuel Projects
  Nathan Rudgers, Senior Vice President, Farm Credit of Western New York
• Implementing Small Scale Bioenergy Systems
  Kamalesh Doshi, Program Director, Biomass Energy Research Center

Biomass Producers Perspective

Sustainably produced biomass will be produced by individuals and businesses in the agriculture and forestry industries.  This session will focus on the perspective of organizations involved in or beginning to engage in the production of biomass for a wide array of bioenergy and bioproducts markets.

• Woody Crops
  Dennis Rak, Owner, Double A Willow
• Agriculture
  Chuck Kyle, Owner, Kyle Farms
• Herbaceous Crops
• Forestry

Biomass Suppliers and End Users Perspectives

The next essential link in a sustainable bioenergy or bioproducts system is the aggregation and delivery of a reliable supply of consistent quality biomass to an array of different end users.  The end users are the essential link that takes the biomass and converts it to high value added products.

• Biomass Broker Perspective
  Jack Santamour, Director, Tree Source Solutions, LLC
  Matthew McArdle, President, Mesa Reduction Engineering & Processing, Inc.
  
• End User Perspective
  Derek Benson, Director of Business Development, Catalyst Renewables

Sustainability of Bioenergy Systems

The development of sustainable bioenergy systems will involve the development of each of the components of bioenergy systems in order to meet sustainability criteria agreed upon among essential stakeholders.  This session will review the latest developments in the international, national and state levels to develop sustainable bioenergy systems and criteria to assess them.

• Sustainability of Biofuels in NY and as Part of the NY Biofuels Roadmap
  Zywia Wojnar, Program Manager, Pace Energy and Climate Center
• Measuring the Sustainability of Bioenergy Systems
  Thomas Buchholz, Research Assistant and PhD student, Forest & Natural Resources Management, SUNY-ESF
• Economic Sustainability of Willow Biomass Crops
  Dr. Timothy Volk, Senior Research Associate, Forest & Natural Resources Management, SUNY-ESF

Barriers for Developing Sustainable Bioenergy Systems

As part of this session a list of barriers to developing sustainable bioenergy and biofuels supply chains in NY will be developed.

Panel TBA

Overcoming Barriers to Developing Sustainable Bioenergy Systems

The panel will address issues identified in the previous section.  Time will be provided for discussion with the participants to create a list of potential solutions.  As a final step, participants would be asked to rank the solutions by identifying what they see as the top three solutions to the potential barriers that have been identified.

Panel TBA