05 Oct Registration open
Congress on Biorefineries
Science and technology for a sustainable world
Registration is now open to attend the IV Latin American Congress on Biorefineries, which will take place in Concepción on 23, 24 and 25 November, 2015. This is the most important meeting of the Americas that brings together experts from the region and the world to share their research and identify new ideas to improve the sustainability of the planet.
Several years ago, researchers from many countries have been working on issues related to Biorefineries, a set of processes that transform biomass from forest, algal or agricultural origin into energy and various bio-based products as a sustainable and low-impact alternative than petroleum derivatives.
The meeting is a unique opportunity for researchers, professionals from different fields and representatives of State agencies to share experiences on the use of waste materials or by-products from various industrial processes, such as tree barks and grain husks, sawdust, pruning residues and wheat straw, among many others, to generate products of commercial interest. These include biomaterials, such as biodegradable plastics, resins with exceptional physical properties or materials inhibiting the growth of pathogens; biofuels, such as bioethanol, biodiesel and wood pellets; and fine chemicals, such as pharmaceuticals or food additives.
The possibilities of replacing oil with biomass obtained from sustainable wood have multiple benefits, not only ecological and environmental, but also social and economic. In fact, the “bioeconomy” provides real growth possibilities to SMEs, encourages the development of rural areas and provides new development opportunities for countries like Chile that are deficient in fossil raw materials, but have optimal conditions to produce forest, agricultural and algal biomass. The existence of Chilean companies working on these fields with advanced technology, operating in global markets, and groups of scientific and technological frontier research, strengthen even more this alternative for the development of the region and the country.
What does the Congress on Biorefineries offer?
During the three days of completion of the Congress, it is expected that more than 300 scientists, students and professionals share with leading international experts and review the results from 60 researches that will be presented orally and about 100 as posters, on issues such as biological, chemical and thermochemical conversion of biomass; economic, environmental and social sustainability of bioproducts and bioprocesses; new types of biomaterials and bioproducts, among others.
It also offers the opportunity to participate in the following parallel activities:
- Advanced Course on Biorefineries
- Course on Analytical Methods in Forest Biorefineries
- Workshop on the Sustainable Use of Biomass
- Visits to companies and scaling demonstration plants.