Headingley Cafe Scientifique - Biofuels

'Sustainable biofuel: common misconceptions and realistic opportunities'

Professor Jurgen Denecke, Centre for Plant Sciences, University of Leeds

Monday 2nd July 2012 - 7:45pm - 9:30pm

Despite popular concerns regarding food security and alleged competition between food and fuel crops, the most promising strategies for sustainable biofuel production have either never been considered or hardly begun to make a global impact. For this reason, it is of growing importance to raise awareness of the specific role biofuels can play in the future energy strategy. To be competitive, we must explore systematically how bio-fuel production can interface with the need to produce more food and more materials from plants per time and land occupied. This presentation will introduce a remarkable number of popular misconceptions that currently prevent full exploitation of the tremendous potential plant-based fuel strategies have to offer. It will also illustrate how thinking outside the box can lead to surprisingly simple opportunities to increase both food and fuel production efficiencies.

Professor Denecke has studied chemical engineering in Belgium, specialising in process technology and biotechnology. After completing his PhD in Plant Genetic Systems NV (Ghent) he focussed fully on cell biology and currently runs a research team studying protein secretion and vacuolar protein sorting in plants at the University of Leeds. More recently his team has combined the knowledge gained in cell compartmentalisation to engineer specific crops for bio-fuel production.  

Admission £2                All Welcome

 New Headingley Club, 56 St. Michael’s Road, Leeds LS6 3BG. Tel: 0113 2757712 (for info. on venue).

For details about Café Scientifique, to volunteer your help, or to receive emails about future meetings contact ann.clarke17@yahoo.co.uk