Topics on the agenda will include the growth in the U.S. biofuels industry, current and emerging research and development initiatives and Oklahoma’s emerging biorefining sector. Former CIA Director James Woolsey will address the relationship between national security and the development of alternative transportation fuels.

National presenters will include:

• John Ferrell, Department of Energy.
• Duane Grant, USDA Advisory Committee on Biotechnology and 21st Century Agriculture.
• Richard Hess, Idaho National Laboratory.
• Anna Rath, Ceres Inc.
• Robert White, Ethanol Promotion and Information Council.
• Dr. Steven Phillips, National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
• Curt Rich, Van Ness Feldman.
• David Terry, Governors’ Ethanol Coalition.
• Dr. Jeffery Dahlberg, National Grain Sorghum Producers.

Oklahoma Gov. Brad Henry, who convened the conference, asserted that Oklahoma is uniquely positioned to help meet the need for “renewable products besides corn to create transportation fuels to replace a portion of imported petroleum.”

“Switchgrass and other native Oklahoma prairie grasses show great potential for alternative fuels
and can offset some of the downside of corn,” Henry said.

For more information on the conference, visit http://www.GrowOK.com.