Lee Lynd
Paul E. and Joan H. Queneau Distinguished Professor of Engineering & Adjunct Professor of Biology, Dartmouth University; Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer, Terragia Corporation
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Speaker Biography:
Lee Lynd is Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer for Terragia; Paul and Joan Queneau Distinguished Professor of Engineering and Adjunct Professor of Biology at Dartmouth College; Sao Paulo Excellence Chair and Director of the Advanced Second Generation Biofuel Laboratory at the University of Campinas (Brazil); and Team Lead for Consolidated Bioprocessing at the US Department of Center for Bioenergy Innovation. Past leadership positions include Executive Committee Chairman of the Global Sustainable Bioenergy Initiative, Co-Leader of the Role of Biomass in America’s Energy Future Project, Co-Founder and Director of Mascoma and Enchi Corporations, and Biofuel Industry Representative on the Advisory Committee to the Executive Office of President Clinton on Reducing Greenhouse Emissions from Personal Vehicles. His work in the biofuels field includes over 300 papers cited over 43,000 times as well as 23 granted patents.
Abstract:
Distinctive among renewable energy options, bioenergy and biofuels have meaningful linkages to most of the Sustainable Development Goals, with positive and negative impacts possible with respect to most and likely all of these linkages. Acknowledging this complexity, this talk will explore paths by which biofuels could be a primary climate solution for the transport sector, operationally defined as a primary means of mitigating the climate impacts of difficult-to-electrify transportation modes.
Cellulosic biofuels fell short of expectations over the last decade but have potential to play a major role as part of the sustainable energy transition. Perspectives will be offered pursuant to configuring Cellulosic Biofuel 2.0 for success, including:
• The need for cellulosic biofuels as key components of the sustainable energy transition, with an emphasis on negative emissions.
• Graceful land use strategies, in particular for avoiding land competition and enhancing the cost effectiveness and sustainability of food and feed production.
• Consolidated bioprocessing (CBP), a technology with potential to enable cost-competitive conversion of cellulosic biomass to fuels for light and heavy-duty transport applications.
• Terragia, a recently formed startup aiming to commercialize CBP.