French-American Science Festival 2012 - CHICAGO
Saturday 28th to Wednesday 31st October
Pr. Paul Colonna (Collège de France, INRA)
"Sustainable bioenergies in developed countries"
CONFERENCE KEYNOTE SPEAKER
SUSTAINABLE BIOENERGIES
About Paul COLONNA
After getting an engineering degree in agronomy at the National Institute of Agronomy in Paris-Grignon, Paul Colonna turned to academia, receiving a Masters of Nutrition and a Ph.D. in Polymer Physics at the University of Paris Pierre et Marie Curie. He devoted his entire career to scientific research and its applications to food science, particularly on biopolymers, with sabbatical stays in Norwich (BBSRC, UK) and Berkeley (USDA, USA). Over the past decade, a focus on green chemistry of renewable carbon allowed him to broaden his research activity to the issue of sustainable development, through French and European collaborations in the most prestigious units of French research, including INRA (National Institute of Agronomic Research www.inra.fr).
Knight of the National Order and of Agricultural Merit, his expertise is now recognized worldwide through its 130 publications and 26 books published as well as its participation in major international scientific congresses, leading to be elected Fellow of the International Academy of Food Science & Technology (IAFoST). Father of two children, Paul Colonna is now a professor at the College de France (www.college-de-france.fr/), where he teaches Sustainable Development.
About Sophie MERITET
After her Ph.D in Economics in 2000, Sophie Méritet worked 2 years in Houston Texas, as energy economist at the French Consulate and lecturer at University of Houston. Since 2002, she is Associate Professor in Economics at Université Paris-Dauphine and researcher at Centre de Géopolitique de l’Energie et des Matières Premières (CGEMP). She also taught a seminar at the Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées for 5 years and at the American University of Paris. Currently, she teaches at the Science Po Paris and ENA, and manages continuing education seminars in microeconomics, industrial organization, antitrust, European economics and energy economics. Her teaching experience abroad includes the University of Chicago and University of Michigan in the U.S., CIDE in Mexico City, and she has been invited to seminars like the FGV in Rio de Janeiro and the CEEM in Sydney. Author of several articles, her researches are linked to the reorganization of energy markets, energy economics and the geopolitics of energy.
Sophie Méritet (Centre Géopolitique de l'Energie et des Matières Premières)
"A sustainable energy situation : economics, uncertainties and challenges"
The scientific conference will take place on Monday, October 29th at 01:30pm with a lecture on "Sustainable Bioenergies" by Prof. Paul Colonna, with the participation of Prof. Sophie Méritet
Discussions are now opened again with the evolution on energy markets and the necessary environmental protection. In the United States, the exploitation of unconventional resources radically changes the energy situation and the development of renewable energy. The equation to solve becomes complex for every country: supply the economy with reliable and “cheap” energy, part of competitiveness, while managing to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. The presentation will be divided into three parts: the world energy situation, the European situation and key challenges for the USA and France. A round table discussion on the economic challenges of renewable energy in both the public and private sectors will take place at the Alliance Francaise on Tuesday, October 30th at 06:30 PM.
Since the turn of the century, global interest in the production and consumption of biofuels (essentially ethanol and biodiesel) has been growing. In fact the topic encompasses wood energies, biogas and biobased chemicals. The interest has been caused on the one hand by environmental concerns, the need to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, and on the other hand physical limitation of fossil carbons, interest in diversifying the energy mix, and reducing ecotoxicity of chemicals. Biomass is part of the solution for achieving a transition towards cleaner and safer systems. Green and white biotechnologies are the two main drivers of these agricultural and industrial mutations.
Recently doubts have been raised about the actual benefits of biobased molecules regarding these aforementioned issues. Other questions have also been arised about potential impacts, such as competition with food supply, risks of losing biodiversity, reduction of water quality and availability. Due to political and NGO pressures, different sustainability criteria have been proposed in order to promote the effective sustainable production of bioenergies and biobased chemicals. Theoretically such criteria will differentiate between products with similar functional properties, while different in their supply chains. The rise of sustainability criteria could result in new certifications of biofuels products. France, as a member of EU27, has some specific advantages in this perspective. There are also concerns that a certification could bring new barriers for the international trade of biobased molecules.
The world energy situation is still characterized by the dominance of fossil fuels. However, national energy balances differ from one country to another, due to their domestic resources, national history, level of development and energy choices. Access to energy resources has become highly strategic. Cheap and abundant energy has become an image of the past. Today, energy is becoming expensive and scarce. This raises the question of price and quantity, as in what price are we willing to pay for maybe small amount of energy available in the future? In the European Union, the debate on a common energy policy, its necessity and its implementation has been open for decades