BioEnergy Producers Association Formed - Former State Senator David Roberti Elected President
The BioEnergy Producers Association has been formed. Members are "environmentally preferable" industries that produce power, fuels, and chemicals from biomass and plastic wastes.
Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) January 19, 2005 -- California’s biobased industries
are uniting under the banner of a BioEnergy Producers Association intended to
advance the development and commercialization of sustainable, environmentally
preferable industries that produce power, fuels, and chemicals from
agricultural, forestry, and urban sources of biomass and plastic wastes. The
association’s formation was announced by its Chairman, James L.
Stewart.
“The organization will serve as a unified voice for California’s
biobased industries to inform and advise policymakers on the broad-based
environmental and economic benefits of bioenergy and bioproducts, including
reductions in petroleum dependency, greenhouse gas emissions, air toxics and the
practice of landfilling. The introduction of biobased industries will enhance
the State’s agricultural base, air and water quality, forest health and wildfire
protection, and economic development,” Stewart noted in making the
announcement.
Former State Senator David Roberti is President of the new
association. Roberti, former President pro Tempore of the California
Legislature, which he served for 27 years, was also a member of the California
Integrated Waste Management Board from 1998 to 2002.
Roberti was the
chief Senate negotiator for AB939 the governing legislation for solid waste
management in California. He authored, among other pieces of environmental
legislation, laws reducing the generation of hazardous waste in California and
setting deadlines for their implementation.
The association’s Vice
President is Dr. Kay Martin, who recently retired as the Director of the Ventura
County Environmental and Energy Resources Department, which implements the
County's AB939 programs, and also has lead responsibility for advancing the
County's comprehensive bioenergy platform. Dr. Martin is a leading proponent for
the commercialization of conversion technologies and new product markets for
biomass fractions of the municipal waste stream, including renewable energy,
transportation fuels and industrial chemicals
“One of the major goals of
the BioEnergy Producers Association will be to promote the development of a
comprehensive bioenergy policy for the State of California. We want the state to
establish a policy that prioritizes biobased industry growth, and furthers
national biomass research and development policy objectives for energy security,
pollution abatement, and rural economic development,” said Roberti.
“Our
goal is to educate the public about the environmental and economic benefits of
biobased industries, and pursue broad-based coalitions to promote their
introduction throughout the state,” Roberti concluded.
The association
maintains a web site at www.bioenergyproducers.org.
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Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/1/prweb198648.htm