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Dow Seminar on Biofuels April 25

The head of biofuels technology for Chevron will speak at West Virginia University on Friday, April 25. Paul F. Bryan, Ph.D., vice president for biofuels technology at Chevron, will speak on "Biofuels, Conservation and Renewables."

The lecture is part of the Dow/Union Carbide Seminar Series in the Department of Chemical Engineering. The free and open lecture will begin at 9 a.m. at the National Research Center for Coal and Energy on the Evansdale Campus.

Bryan earned his BS in chemical engineering from Penn State and his PhD, also in chemical engineering, from the University of California-Berkeley. He has been with Chevron for 12 years.

The abstract for Bryan’s lecture follows:

In well over 100 years of existence, the oil industry has developed the capacity to find, extract, transport and refine crude oil, and to distribute and market petroleum-based fuels. During that period, a highly efficient, multi-trillion-dollar global infrastructure has been developed to deliver transportation fuels efficiently around the world.

However, events in recent years have pointed out several emerging limitations of this system. First and foremost, robust global economic growth has pushed the industry's ability to meet customer demands to the limit. Even today, more than five percent of global demand is met with “unconventional” resources, such as extra-heavy oil, gas-to-liquids and biofuels, and demand continues to grow.

There has also been recent growth in concern about climate change, driven by increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide levels, and attendant regulation and public pressure to reduce those emissions.

Finally, there is anxiety in much of the industrialized world at its reliance on a small number of crude-oil exporting countries, many in unstable parts of the world, and therefore a call to increase domestic production, or at least to diversify the sources of liquid fuels.

In 2006, Chevron formed a Biofuels Business Unit with the intention of developing a large-scale, profitable, sustainable biofuels business as part of Chevron's commitment to meet consumer demand with superior motor fuels.

This presentation will describe Chevron's plans and activities in biofuels, including a focus on “GEN 2” biofuels, sources and hurdles related to feedstock supply, research on novel conversion technologies, and development of both traditional and novel fuel products derived from renewable resources. The seminar will provide an overview of a unique approach to developing this new business, including an especially broad range of business and R&D alliances with universities, national laboratories and other companies.

A reception will be held in the NRCCE Atrium following the lecture.

04/18/2008