Hi Everyone,

SOCAAR is pleased to announce our Seminar for April:

Wednesday, April 5, 2017

2 – 3 PM
200 College Street, WB 407

Exploring trade-offs in the use of biomass for greenhouse gas mitigation

Dr. Daniel Posen

Assistant Professor

Department of Civil Engineering,

University of Toronto

Abstract: Increasing concern over fossil fuel use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions has led to growing interest in the use of biomass (i.e., plant material and organic waste) for both energy and materials. Around the world, government programs primarily incentivize use of biofuels in the transportation sector. In contrast, few policy drivers exist to encourage the use of biomass for the production of chemicals, an industry which is currently among the largest users of fossil fuel and which is responsible for approximately 7% of global GHG emissions.

To guide efficient resource use, this talk explores certain tradeoffs in the use of biomass for GHG mitigation in a U.S./North American context. In particular, this research addresses key questions, such as 1) are greater GHG reductions achieved when using bio-ethanol as a transportation fuel, or as a chemical feedstock? 2) within the plastics sector, are greater GHG emission reductions achieved by switching to bio-based plastics, or more simply by producing conventional plastics with renewable energy? This talk will also discuss recent work showing 3) how economic/market response can substantially undermine or reverse the GHG benefits from biofuel policies. The results of these studies shed light on the uncertainty present in the life-cycle GHG emissions from bio-based products, and make concrete recommendations to set priorities in the use of biomass for GHG mitigation.

If you are unable to join us for the seminar in person, we will be broadcasting the presentations live during the seminar using GoToMeeting software. Please feel free to join us online using a web-browser or by calling in and using the web-viewing software. If you do decide to join us, please remember to mute your microphone.  If you have any questions during the meeting you are welcome to contact me by email, or by using the GoToMeeting chat.

SOCAAR Seminar - Dr. Daniel Posen
Wed, Apr 5, 2017 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM EDT

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