Surfing the Perfect Storm: Opportunities and Challenges in the Emerging Biofuels Industry

The perfect storm in the trillion $ petrofuels energy world--with issues of energy security, peak oil and global warming all converging--has created remarkable opportunities for the emergence of a major new industry: biofuels.

Tremendous amounts of capital have already been invested in the biofuel industry in the last 18 months, in spite of uncertain economics and rapidly evolving regulation.  Much of the activity is occurring in Seattle. 

On Wednesday October 17, 2007, join Seattle-based moderator Ross Reynolds of KUOW to learn more about what is enticing local entrepreneurs into a sector that includes bio-feedstocks, processing plant technology, new distribution chains and more.

Panelists for the program will include:

SS          Rob Elam, CEO of Propel Biofuels

SS          Tomas Endicott, Chairman of Sequential Biofuels

SS          Nancy Floyd, Founder, Nth Power Venture Capital

SS          Dan Parker, CEO of Parker Messana

SS          Michael Weaver, CEO of Bionavitas

Topics to be explored by Ross Reynolds and the panel include:

SS          The current development status of the biofuels industry (an overview of terms and topics will be provided for those new to this industry)

SS          Why companies around the world are investing in a space that is yet to be proved profitable, and what they see down the '2nd  Generation' road

SS          Which companies and which strategies are likely to prosper

SS          Why local entrepreneurs and professionals from other industries are jumping into biofuels

SS          What will happen to our baby biofuels companies if the petrofuels 'elephant' rolls over on them

Mark your calendars for this provocative dinner event.     

Biographies

Rob Elam, President of Propel Biofuels
 
Rob co-founded Propel Biofuels in 2004. Based in Seattle, Propel Biofuels builds, owns and operates a growing network renewable fueling locations. Propel closed Series A funding in August of 2007, led by @Ventures and Nth Power.
 
Propel Biofuels connects Rob's professional and personal passions: Since his grandfather hooked him on fly fishing the rivers of the Sierra Nevada, Rob has been a passionate advocate for sustainability, high quality of life, and healthy communities.  Rob's professional past is rooted in the intersection of technology and communications; he held senior roles with Imation (a 3M Company) and Fluent Communications before founding FORM Communications in 1999. FORM clients included leading global brands Nike, Red Bull, Nintendo, and K2 Sports.  Born in Davis, California and raised in Minnesota, Rob likes to think combines the pragmatic fortitude of the Midwest with the innovative spirit of the West Coast. Rob has worked with Outward Bound USA, and as an instructor for the Wilderness Education Association/University of Alaska, and as an adjunct professor for the State University of New York (SUNY). Rob holds a BA in Anthropology from Hamline University in St. Paul, MN.

Tomas Endicott, Chairman of SeQuential Biofuels

Tomas Endicott is a founder and board member of SeQuential Biofuels, LLC.  Tomas leads SeQuential's business development efforts and government relations at the local, state and federal levels.  Tomas began working in the biofuels arena in 2000 when he and Ian Hill founded Eugene BioSource, a Northwest-based biofuels information and advocacy group.  Sensing a greater business opportunity, Tomas and Ian founded SeQuential in 2002.  In 2004 Tomas moved from Eugene to Portland to expand SeQuential's biodiesel distribution and to open SeQuential's Portland office.  In partnership with Star Oilco of Portland, Tomas established the region's first biodiesel pumps.  In 2005 Tomas led the development of the region's first commercial biodiesel production facility.  SeQuential-Pacific Biodiesel is a one million gallon per year facility located in Salem that was built and is operated in partnership with Pacific Biodiesel of Maui, Hawaii.  Since 2002, Tomas has worked with state agencies, the Oregon Governor's office and Oregon legislators to develop progressive legislation to encourage greater production and use of biofuels.  Tomas serves as a member of the Biofuels Subcommittee of the Governor's Renewable Energy Work Group.  Tomas holds a bachelor's degree from Cornell University in Biology and Sociology and a Master's degree from the University of Oregon in Community and Regional Planning.

Nancy C. Floyd, Founder and Managing Director, Nth Power, LLC 

Nancy Floyd is Founder and Managing Director of Nth Power, the pioneering energy venture capital firm.  With $400M under management, Ms. Floyd has led its investments in many companies, including three listed on the NASDAQ.  Furthermore, Ms. Floyd sits on the boards of the United Fund Advisors, Center for Resource Solutions and ACORE, and is an active member of E2.  She also helped organize the Northwest Business Leaders for Clean Energy campaign and is co-chairing the Investing in Clean Energy in the Northwest conference for the second year in conjunction with Stoel Rives. Ms Floyd was also appointed by Governor Ted Kulongoski to serve on the Oregon Economic and Community Development Commission.

Prior to Nth Power, Ms. Floyd founded, managed and negotiated the sale of one of the country's first wind development firms, and a network management company for private voice and data.  Ms. Floyd holds a masters degree in political science from Rutgers University and a bachelor's degree from Franklin and Marshall College.

Dan Parker, CEO of ParkerMessana

Mr. Parker is CEO of ParkerMessana Consulting Engineers, a leading global engineering consulting services company with extensive experience in design, retrofit and construction of renewable energy and industrial projects worldwide; including the leadership role in process engineering and facility design for Imperium Renewable's 100 million gallon per year biodiesel plant in Hoquiam, WA.  ParkerMessana currently leads renewable energy projects spanning cellulosic ethanol, biogas and biodiesel for clients in the US, Europe and South America.  Mr. Parker has thirty years experience as a chemical process and electrical engineer and currently chairs the Washington State Board of Registered Engineers & Land Surveyors, and was appointed to the board by Governor Locke in 2004.

Michael Weaver, Co-Founder, Chairman and CEO, Bionavitas, Inc.

Bionavitas is a Washington state company that has developed a proprietary technology for the high-volume production of micro-algae.

Prior to Bionavitas, in 1998, Mr. Weaver co-founded Applied Discovery, Inc. (ADI) a Washington based company that invented on-line legal electronic discovery, and was Chairman and CEO.  Mr. Weaver designed and patented Applied Discovery's system to process, index, and provide on-line tools for searching and managing email, files, and other electronic corporate data at the rate of three million pages a day, changing the face of modern day legal discovery. ADI's services were key to the discovery of some of the most notorious emails and files in the Enron, Worldcom, and Global Crossing litigations as well as the investment bank investigations and other high profile corporate cases. In 2003, Mr. Weaver was winner of the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award and negotiated the sale of Applied Discovery to Lexis/Nexis. Upon moving to the Seattle area from New York City, Mr. Weaver managed the Seattle Management Consulting practice of Coopers & Lybrand.  He then consulted with Microsoft and founded a series of successful companies providing software distribution and license tracking services for software manufacturers. Prior to Coopers, Mr. Weaver served in the United States Air Force developing distributed databases for military training curricula.  Mr. Weaver holds a Bachelors of Science in Mechanical Engineering and MBAs in Finance and Operations Management, is a member of the Northwest Energy Angels, and serves on numerous corporate boards.