Blacksburg, VA. February 2, 2013. Dr. Robert Smith, Associate Dean of Engagement at the College of Natural Resources and Environment (CNRE) and acting Department Head of the Department of Sustainable Biomaterials (SBIO) at Virginia Tech, traveled along with Dr. Henry Quesada-Pineda, Assistant Professor at the SBIO Department to participate in the kick-off meeting of the project US-India Joint Clean Energy Research and Development Center (JCERDC) for Development of Sustainable Advanced Lignocellulosic Biofuel Systems.

 The project is part of the $125 million US-India consortia to develop joint research in solar energy, building efficiency, and lignocellulosic biofuel systems. SBIO researches Smith and Quesada are part of the lignocellulosic biofuel systems project’s team that has as a goal to develop sustainable advanced second-generation biofuels.

The biofuels U.S. project team is led by the University of Florida and it includes the University of Missouri, Montclair State University, Texas A&M University, and Virginia Tech. Private partners Show Me Energy and Green Technologies are also part of the team. On the Indian side, the project includes several governmental and private partners.

The lignocellolosic biofuel systems project has several tasks including feedstock selection and development, biofuel production, supply chain management, marketing and social, economics, and environmental impacts. Drs. Smith and Quesada-Pineda will lead the supply chain management and marketing aspects of the project. Also, Dr. Janaki Alavalapati, Department Head of the Forestry Resources and Environmental Conservation (FREC) Department at Virginia Tech, participates in the project as leader of the Virginia Tech team.

If you wish to know more about the project please contact Dr. Henry Quesada-Pineda at quesada@vt.edu

Participants of the kick-off meeting of the US-India JERCD Lignocellolosic Biofuel Systems project posse for a group picture at the University of Florida in Gainesville, FL.
Participants of the kick-off meeting of the US-India JERCD Lignocellolosic Biofuel Systems project posse for a group picture at the University of Florida in Gainesville, FL.