625 Symposium --Biofuels in Developing Countries: Opportunities and Risks

Oral Session
A06 International Agronomy
The biofuels revolution raises a number of critical issues and opportunities for international development. The opportunity to redirect massive cash flows that were formerly sent overseas for foreign oil purchases into local rural areas could provide a boon to rural development — but will the benefits reach the poor, and will they be environmentally sustainable and beneficial? Leading experts will address these issues from developing-world perspectives including development economics, cropping systems, greenhouse gas and energy balances and the environment, and biotechnology opportunities.
Tuesday, 7 October 2008: 8:25 AM-11:45 AM
George R. Brown Convention Center, 371D

Presiding:
Mark Winslow
8:25 AM
Introductory Remarks
8:30 AM
Implications of Biofuels for Food Security and the Poor.
Peter Hazell, Imperial College at Wye
8:45 AM
Environmental Economics Perspective on Biofuel, Agriculture, and the Environment.
David Zilberman, University of California, Berkeley
9:00 AM
Accelerating the Rate of Crop Yield Gains to Ensure Sustainable Biofuel Systems.
Kenneth Cassman, Univ. of Nebraska; Adam Liska, University of Nebraska; Haishun Yang, University of Nebraska; Daniel D'Croz Mason, University of Nebraska
9:15 AM
Life Cycle Assessment of Biofuel Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Net Energy Yields Using the BESS Model.
Adam Liska, Univ. of Nebraska; Haishun Yang, Univ. of Nebraska, Lincoln; Virgil Bremer, Univ. of Nebraska, Lincoln; Galen E. Erickson, Univ. of Nebraska, Lincoln; Terry Klopfenstein, Univ. of Nebraska, Lincoln; Daniel Walters, Univ. of Nebraska; Kenneth Cassman, Univ. of Nebraska
9:30 AM
Break
10:15 AM
Sweet Sorghum: a Pro-Poor Bioethanol Crop.
Mark Winslow, ICRISAT; William Dar, ICRISAT; Belum V. S. Reddy, ICRISAT; K. Purnachandra Rao, ICRISAT; Michael Blümmel, ILRI c/o ICRISAT; Barry Shapiro, ILRI c/o ICRISAT
10:30 AM
Cassava Potential for Bioethanol.
Hernan Ceballos, CIAT (Intl Center for Tropical Agriculture); Keith Fahrney, CIAT; Reinhardt Howeler, CIAT; Bernardo Ospina, Latin American & Caribbean Consortium to Support Cassava Research & Development
10:45 AM
Panel Discussion
11:45 AM
Adjourn