Media are invited to attend a UC Davis-organized forum on biomass energy on Thursday, Jan. 8, in Sacramento. The forum will discuss biomass resources, power generation, policy and research.

Biomass generators use various fuels (such as farm wastes, landfill gases, nonrecyclable paper and wood from forest thinning) to make electricity directly or to make gas that can generate electricity. Biomass may also become an important source of fuels and chemicals and other bioproducts in the future.

The forum's coordinator is UC Davis professor of biological and agricultural engineering Bryan Jenkins, who is director of the California Biomass Collaborative. The biomass forum will take place 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the headquarters of the California Environmental Protection Agency in Sacramento.

Three of the forum's speakers are James Boyd, commissioner of the California Energy Commission, A.G. Kawamura, state secretary of food and agriculture, and Terry Tamminen, secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency. Other speakers include Jenkins; representatives of industry and state and local government; officials from the federal Department of Energy, state air-pollution agencies and the Sierra Club; and scientists of the national laboratories.

This is the collaborative's first such forum, Jenkins said. "We are bringing together the many people interested in biomass development in industry, government, academia and environmental protection to talk about the development of a sustainable biomass industry in California."

Among the topics to be discussed are:

• Electricity generation and other energy from biomass
• Biomass policy issues for California
• Regulation and permitting
• Environmental issues
• Research and innovation

The forum will take place in the Coastal Hearing Room of the CalEPA building, 1001 I St., Sacramento. More information is online at: http://conferences.ucdavis.edu/cabiomass.