Speakers to Map Path to Biobased Economy at Industrial Biotech Conference
WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 30, 2005) -- Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack will outline steps to building a biobased economy in the U.S. heartland when he speaks on “Iowa’s Vision for Integrating Industrial Biotechnology and Agriculture for a More Sustainable Future” at the opening plenary lunch of the World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology and Bioprocessing, Wednesday, April 20. Under Governor Vilsack's leadership, Iowa is pursuing an economic growth strategy focused on renewable energy, life sciences, financial services, and advanced manufacturing. This second annual conference to be held at the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Hotel in Orlando, Fla., runs through Friday April 22. The conference is hosted by the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), the American Chemical Society, and the National Agricultural Biotechnology Council.
Paul Roberts, author of the critically acclaimed book The End of Oil: On the Edge of a Perilous New World will also address the opening plenary luncheon, further outlining the conversion of an oil-based economy to a biobased economy. A journalist who contributes regularly to Harper’s, and has written for The New Republic, Newsweek, Rolling Stone, and Outside magazine, Roberts will discuss the complex interplay of economics, technology, and the natural world.
The second day of the conference will feature remarks by BIO President Jim Greenwood on how BIO members are transforming the industrial sector to a biobased platform. Iain Ferguson, CEO of Tate and Lyle, a London-based manufacturer of renewable foods and industrial ingredients, will also address the plenary luncheon on “Innovation and Customer Relations: Vision for a Biobased Economy,” giving examples from the food industry. Ferguson was recently named European Businessman of the Year by Forbes magazine.
The conference will close with a plenary breakfast featuring key CEOs in the industrial biotechnology space including Jay Short of Diversa, James Barber of Metabolix, Brian Foody of Iogen and Alan Shaw of Codexis. This session will be followed by a luncheon address by Richard Worzel, one of North America’s leading futurists and strategic planners. Worzel, the author of The Next 20 Years of Your Life, will discuss how biotechnology is revolutionizing industrial processes and how it will revolutionize and change society on many fronts over the coming decade.
This year’s event is expected to draw between 500 and 700 business executives, scientists, and government officials. More than 400 companies have registered for the conference, including Abengoa Bioenergy, BASF Plant Science, Bayer CropScience, British Petroleum, Broin, Bunge, Cargill, DuPont, ExxonMobil, Merck, Pfizer Global R&D, Procter & Gamble, Schering-Plough, Shell, and Syngenta. The conference will be geared toward a diverse base of participants from biotechnology, chemical and other industries, government and academia. The event promises to provide a unique forum for interdisciplinary interaction and networking.
BIO represents more than 1,000 biotechnology companies, academic institutions, state biotechnology centers and related organizations in all 50 U.S. states and 33 other nations. BIO members are involved in the research and development of health-care, agricultural, industrial and environmental biotechnology products.
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