Senate work session on global oil and alternative energy strategies for the transportation sector

OLYMPIA — The Senate Water Energy & Telecommunications Committee (WET Committee) announces a work session on global oil and alternative energy strategies for the transportation sector.

“This session, the Legislature is discussing climate change legislation that examines the transportation sector, and considers how to address this sector as a major source of greenhouse gas emissions,” said Sen. Phil Rockefeller, D-Kitsap County, chair of the WET Committee.

The work session was inspired by Sen. Eric Oemig, D-Kirkland, who brought knowledge of a global oil presentation to the committee's attention.

“Local effort to help global climate change makes a tiny dent in a big problem, but local mitigation for peak oil can make a big difference in solving a problem that will affect all of us locally and precipitate a global crisis,” Oemig said. “If you cut your petroleum dependency, you insulate yourself from the turmoil of world-wide oil shortages.”

The session, open to the public, is scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 21, 5:30 p.m. in the Cherberg Building, Senate Hearing Room 4. The agenda for the work session is as follows:

Peak Global Oil Production (20-30 minutes)
Dr. Melissa Ahern, PhD, Economics, Associate Professor, Washington State University
Dr. Ahern will discuss what peak global oil production is and why is it important to public policy decision making.

Overview of the Spectrum of Biofuels (10-15 minutes)
Peter Moulton, Bioenergy Coordinator, Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development
Mr. Moulton will provide an overview on the range of available and potential biofuels and efforts to electrify vehicles.

Hybrid Biofuel and Electric Vehicles (10-15 minutes)
Ron Johnson-Rodriguez, Economic Development Director, Port of Chelan County
The Advanced Vehicle Innovations (AVI) was established in 2005 to develop, demonstration, and deploy flex-fuel plug-in hybrid electric vehicles in Washington State and the Northwest. These are vehicles propelled by a combination of electricity-from-the-grid and bio-fuels (i.e., bio-diesel, ethanol).

Vehicle to Grid Technologies (10-15 minutes)
John Clark - President & Chief Executive Officer
V2Green is a Washington company working to establish two-way communication between plug-in vehicles and the grid, and provides the means to intelligently manage electric power resources, helping to reduce petroleum use and greenhouse gas emissions.

Cellulosic Ethanol – to be confirmed
Tom Koehler, Vice President of Government Affairs & Communications – Pacific Ethanol. (10-15 minutes)
Pacific Ethanol produces and markets low-carbon ethanol. The company is working to identify and develop other renewable fuel technologies, such as cellulose-based ethanol production and bio-diesel.

Biofuels from Algae

• Andrew Braff, Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati (10-15 minutes)
  Mr. Braff will provide an overview on how fuel is derived from algae and brief the committee on what to expect in the future.
   
• Jay Burns, Chief Algae Scientist, Bionavitas (10-15 minutes)
  Bionavitas is a Washington company that has developed a proprietary technology for the high-volume production of micro-algae. Dr. Burns will provide a briefing on the technology.

Overview of Low Carbon Fuel Standard (5-7 minutes)
Patrick Mazza, Research Director, Climate Solutions

Return to Sen. Rockefeller's home page

Return to Sen. Oemig's home page