On Thursday (Sept. 28), UC Davis will host a daylong conference on the potential for making affordable, renewable transportation fuels from farm and forest residues, urban wastes and crops grown specifically for energy.

Called "Overcoming the Hurdles of Lignocellulosic Biofuels," the conference will feature leaders in biofuels research and development from academia, government, business and industry. They include 26 speakers from UC Davis and UC Riverside; California Energy Commission; California Department of Food and Agriculture; U.S. departments of agriculture and energy; Ford Motor Co.; Chevron Energy Technology Co.; Archer Daniels Midland Co.; and Cargill Inc.

More than 100 scientists study biofuels in the UC Davis Bioenergy Research Group. On Sept. 19, Chevron Corp. said it would fund up to $25 million in biofuels research at UC Davis in the next five years.

Thursday's conference has been organized by Sharon Shoemaker, director of the California Institute of Food and Agricultural Research (CIFAR), a program of the UC Davis Department of Food Science and Technology, in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

"If we are to overcome our 'addiction to oil,' are corn or other plant sources the answer, or are there other targets we should be pursuing?" Shoemaker asked. "Hopefully, we will come away with a view of what is possible."

The conference will run from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Ballroom at the UC Davis Activities and Recreation Center (ARC), on the main campus, at the corner of LaRue and Orchard roads.

The complete program is online at http://www.cifar.ucdavis.edu.

Media are welcome to attend; an RSVP is requested to Judy Blatter at jlblatter@ucdavis.edu.