S119: Scaling bioenergy to a cubic mile of oil

Current annual global consumption of oil is over 1 cubic mile, and is equivalent to about 160 quadrillion Btu.  In addition the world consumes eight tenths of a cubic mile of oil equivalent (or CMO) of coal, six-tenths of a CMO of natural gas, and about two tenths each from hydro, nuclear, and biomass for a total of about 3 CMO.  By the middle of this century, total annual energy consumption is estimated to be between 6 and 9 CMO.  In order to make an impact to global energy supply our solutions must therefore be scalable to a CMO/yr level.  Biomass is an important renewable energy resource and has the advantage of being able to provide energy as a storable liquid fuel. However, most of the bioenergy we use currently comes from burning of wood.  Contribution of biofuels like ethanol and biodiesel in 2009 amounted to 200 million gallons of gasoline equivalent, or 0.0002 CMO.  The Blue Road Map scenario of The International Energy Agency, which aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50% over 2005 levels by 2050, projects increasing the total contribution of bioenergy to 1 CMO, a substantial fraction of which will be in the form of second and third generation biofuels.  The talk will describe the strategic role of microbiology in enabling the envisioned 500-fold increase in biofuels and challenges that must be overcome along the way.