Bio Fuels, using stock such as corn and sugar as the feed for the production of ethanol fuel, have been a big debate over the last year as the public has seen the effects of large scale ethanol production on supplies and pricing in commodity markets. However many of us may not know that behind the scenes there is real research going on to solve this problem and provide the world with renewable feed stock for bio fuel.

Mendel has discovered the functions of genetic switches that control many important aspects of plant growth, metabolism and stress responses. By modifying when and where these key genes are expressed within crops plants, it is possible to obtain significant improvements in plant productivity. Additionally, in many cases, knowledge of gene function enables the identification of natural or synthetic chemicals that can alter plant performance in useful ways.

At this years Going Green Conference in SF we spoke to Neal Gutterman of Mendel Biotechnology of Hayward, CA about his company’s efforts to develop feed stock for bio fuel production. Check out the conversation in the video below.

Neal Gutterman – Mendel Biotechnology – Going Green 2008

The Going Green conference kicked off last night at the spectacular setting of the Cavallo Pt Conference Center set in Fort Baker which is nestled among the hills at the north end of the Golden Gate Bridge. While the setting is beautiful the message of this meeting is optimistic in these days of fluctuating gas prices and concerns over global warming.

Tony Perkins has brought together a large group of industry leaders in bio fuels, solar, water tech, green tech and more to discuss where their industries are at and what they are shooting for in the coming years. Despite the swirling debate over fuels and what areas we should move into to solve our problems these industry execs and financial investment brokers are optimistic about the technologies that are being developed to resolve these problems on the large scale.

Vinod Khosla the noted VC investment broker who runs a large fund devoted to Green spoke most candidly in his key note address on Tuesday morning. He said,”Forget about the fashion statements made by celebrities about using one sheet of toilet paper or which hybrid car to buy, we need to focus on the issues that will make the biggest difference on the global scale.”

Vinod is bullish on biomass, but biomass that does not depend on food stock for fuel (as in corn for ethanol). He spelled out various technologies that are in development that do not depend on food stock but rather on perennial stock such as Miscanthus. He calls the corn market a stepping stone to the next generation of bio fuel.

GM is the big dancer in the room in terms of helping these biomass companies steer towards the future of oil independence. it will be 2030 before we have real energy independence with bio fuel supplies. Can these companies convince companies like GM away from corn ethanol and over to renewable source bio fuel sources. From what I have heard today I would say the answer is yes. Once we get some of our politicians away from “drill baby drill” and over to “grow baby grow”.

You can watch the conference webcast here

Watch for AEHQ’s video coverage of GoingGreen shortly