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Bioethanol scientist Birgitte Ahring speaks at Frontiers in Biological Sciences seminar series

Making second-generation biofuels from biomass materials: current status and future perspectives

Washington State University at Tri-Cities's Birgitte Ahring, Ph. D. will speak on the current state of generating biofuels from biomass during the inaugural talk in the Frontiers in Biological Sciences seminar series, March 23, 2009, at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, WA. Currently the director of WSU Tri-Cities's Center for Bioproducts and Bioenergy, Ahring has extensively studied the use of anaerobic bacteria — microbes that exist in an oxygen-free environment — to degrade waste. She also founded and serves as Chief Executive Officer of BioGasol, an engineering and technology company that designs and develops technologies for second-generation bioethanol production. Her company is a partner in the Pacific Northwest's first ethanol plant, which is funded with $24 million by the Department of Energy. This plant is being built in Boardman, Ore., about 70 miles southwest of WSU Tri-Cities.

PNNL's new bimonthly Frontiers in Biological Sciences seminar series features nationally and internationally known researchers from industry, government, and academia discussing novel ideas and advancements related to biological sciences. These hour-long seminars will feature a 45-minute talk by the featured speaker followed by 15 minutes of discussion with the audience members.

Making Second-Generation Biofuels from Biomass Materials: Current Status and Future Perspectives
Monday March 23, 2009
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
3335 Q Ave, Richland, WA
EMSL Auditorium
10:00 AM - 11:00 AM

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is a Department of Energy Office of Science national laboratory where interdisciplinary teams advance science and technology and deliver solutions to America's most intractable problems in energy, national security and the environment. PNNL employs 4,200 staff and has an $850 million annual budget. Ohio-based Battelle has managed PNNL since the lab's inception in 1965.

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