Pan American Congress on Plants & BioEnergy

Encourages cooperative efforts to attain greater energy security

MERIDA, MEXICO -- The Pan American Congress on Plants & BioEnergy will be held June 22-25, 2008 in the Fiesta Americana Hotel, Merida, Mexico. The American Society of Plant Biologists (ASPB) is sponsoring the Congress, which is being organized by ASPB members Nick Carpita of Purdue University and Steve Long of the University of Illinois.

The Pan American Congress on Plants & BioEnergy will bring plant biologists together with government policy makers, agronomists, microbiologists, economists and ecologists to forge a path toward Western Hemisphere bioenergy security that is sustainable and environmentally and economically sound. Attendees will learn from venture capitalists and industry leaders in bioenergy about the pathways to economic success and the development of new crops and approaches that will avoid competition between food and fuel. On days two and three of the conference, presenters will explore the breadth of bioenergy crops and the progress that is being made to introduce them into the agricultural landscape; the underlying biology of bioenergy plants; new ideas to enhance biomass yield and quality for the energy crops of the future; and approaches to lowering net greenhouse gas emissions.

A key aim of the meeting is to catalyze collaborations between the American nations in developing scientific approaches leading to better and sustainable bioenergy systems; with particular emphasis on exploiting recent advances in plant biology.

To view the preliminary agenda for the Pan American Congress on Plants & BioEnergy, please visit http://www.aspb.org/meetings/bioenergy08/bioenergyschedule.pdf

To register for the Congress, visit http://www.aspb.org/meetings/bioenergy08/

Press registration can be made by contacting Brian Hyps, ASPB Public Affairs Director at 301-251-0560 and at bhyps@aspb.org