The conference was a success! The three of our students, which included graduate students Rhesa Ledbetter, and Alex McCurdy and undergraduate Mike Morgan, presented posters during the two hour session held last Tuesday and had a great turn out from people representing all facets of biodiesel. Mike also presented a 10 minute snippet of the biodiesel research happening at Utah State during the first ever Next Generation Scientists for Biodiesel breakout session. The poster and breakout session combined generated a lot of interest and great contacts for all 3 of our students.
Rhesa was interviewed about attending the conference for the first time so keep your eyes peeled for that as we will link to it once we have it.
The team will also be part of an upcoming article in Biodiesel Magazine on biodiesel co-products so keep an eye out for that coming link as well!
The conference was very informative on the outlook of biodiesel as a whole with the industry producing a record 1.8 billion gallons in 2013. The RFS called for only 1.28 billion gallons last year which means the industry is growing! Nearly all of that biodiesel also met the required standards thanks to the growing BQ-9000 quality assurance program being fleshed out through the National Biodiesel Board. Heavy focus was given to the lack of Government backing that is happening for the RFS and other renewable energy standards and the fight with our brothers in the oil industry. There was lots of great information gathered through the various and diverse sessions. It was a great conference and the team is looking forward to attending for the 3rd year in a row in 2015.
