In this cut: REVSup at RETECH 2013, USDA Administrator Lillian Salerno's address, E3 Assessment, visit with Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack, and the invitation to testify at the United States Senate Committee on Agriculture.

September was a very active month with our activities taking place from Washington, D.C., to towns around Mississippi. We started at the RETECH 2013 Conference, which drew nearly 1,000 individuals from countries around the world. We conducted a successful REVSup workshop that was attended by 16 individuals, including two from the Government of Zambia. Other REVSup participants represented Native American interests; private sector individuals involved with evaluating waste-to-energy technologies; those trying to grow the geothermal (or, more specifically, the ground source heat pump) industry; green buildings; and designing rocket engines.  RETECH was also a great opportunity to network with and learn from a wide variety of professionals, including those who are responsible for setting sustainability efforts at Wal-Mart and ExxonMobil. One of the attendees, Krista Gesaman, is an entrepreneur from Ohio just getting her start in the world of renewable energy - you can read our exclusive interview with her in this month's newsletter. In this interview she talks about the opportunities for a company like hers and the challenges in getting to the point of having a viable business based on a given renewable energy technology.  

The 12th Annual Southern BioProducts and Renewable Energy Conference in Tunica, Mississippi, went smoothly and we had a great turnout with eight states and three countries represented at this regional event. A great line-up of speakers included a keynote from Lillian Salerno, Administrator for USDA-Rural Business Cooperative Service, Rural Development, who emphasized the importance of innovation and entrepreneurship in growing the renewable energy industry. The opening keynote was delivered by Lieutenant General (retired) John Castellaw, who now leads an effort to help returning soldiers find employment opportunities in agriculture and energy. I am grateful for all the companies and organizations who served as sponsors and supporting organizations for this conference as this event would not be possible without their generous support.

I also moderated the very first, hour-long "listening session" in the Southeast that allowed attendees to give feedback directly to USDA-Agricultural Research Service (ARS) officials on biomass feedstock issues.   Innovate Mississippi has a Partnership Intermediary Agreement with the ARS and is one of the founding members of the Agricultural Technology Innovation Partnership (ATIP) that has a goal to help commercialize research conducted in the ARS laboratories. Stoneville, Mississippi, is home to one the top ARS research facilities in the country.

The inaugural Sustainable Energy Visionary Leader (VISER) Awards were also presented during the conference. The first three recipients are Mississippi House Representative Angela Cockerham, Mississippi Development Authority - Energy and Natural Resources Division and the Mississippi Public Service Commission for championing the efforts to pass legislation and adopt new rules to make Mississippi a significantly more energy efficient state. You may read more about these efforts in my article that appears in the latest issue of the Pointe Innovation magazine.

Our last road trip for the month was to Clarksdale, Mississippi, where we participated in a group of nearly 20 people to conduct an E3 Assessment. The E3 (Economy-Energy-Environment) initiative represents a sustainable growth strategy and is a joint effort by six federal agencies including the Departments of Commerce, Labor, Energy, Agriculture, the Environment Protection Agency and the Small Business Administration. The E3 assessment was coordinated by the InnovateMEP Mississippi Manufacturing Extension Partnership program and had private sector, government, nonprofit, and university faculty and student participants from Alabama, Ohio and Mississippi. The E3 event resulted in nearly 100 recommendations for a tire component manufacturing plant, some that were short term and others more strategic in nature.

We closed September with a visit from U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to Mississippi who visited the research facilities at Mississippi State University and then conducted a town hall meeting at the Mississippi Agriculture and Forestry Museum in Jackson. Secretary Vilsack stressed the need to get a new Farm Bill passed as soon as possible so that there can be market certainty in the agricultural market place. He outlined the four focus areas for USDA: commercial agriculture production and exports, local and regional food systems, soil and water conservation, and growing the bio-based economy. SBS is actively working with companies that are involved with many aspects of the focus areas for USDA and we hope to continue these interactions.

Next month marks the 40th anniversary of the Arab oil embargo against the United States that lead to a devastating economic recession. Stay tuned for more on information from SBS on what has - and has not - changed since the embargo. I will also be reporting on the United States Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee Hearing in which I have been invited to provide testimony regarding advanced biofuels and their role in creating jobs and lowering the prices at the pump. The hearing will take place Thursday,  October 3 at 9:30 a.m. Eastern Time in Room 328A of the Russell Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C.

We always want to hear from you about your success stories or challenges you may be facing so please contact me at sarora@innovate.ms or 601-960-3659. Also, follow us on Twitter at @SBS_Renewable or me personally at  @DrSumeshArora.

Sumesh Arora, Ph.D.

Director, Strategic Biomass Solutions 

The United States Environmental Protection Agency Office of the Inspector General has released a report recommending ways the agency should improve monitoring activities for the renewable fuel standard (RFS) program. According to the report, the audit was conducted in response to the generation of millions of dollars of fraudulent renewable identification numbers (RINs), and aimed to determine if EPA has assessed program risk and designed necessary controls in the RFS program.

Department of Energy and Georgetown University to Accelerate Energy Efficiency in Local Communities 

The Energy Department and Georgetown University signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) this month to collaborate on the Georgetown University Energy Prize, a competition to encourage innovative, replicable, and scalable approaches to reducing energy use in communities across the United States. Aimed at increasing the number of municipalities, utilities, and individuals working to save energy in their homes and communities, the MOU supports President Obama's Climate Action Plan of pursuing greater energy efficiency that reduces greenhouse gases and saves consumers money.   

Are Governments' Trade Policies Harming the Growth of Renewables? 

All over the world, governments have seen the development of renewable energy manufacturing as a way to create jobs while moving regional and national economies into the next wave of technology.  But what renewable energy trade policies really makes sense for the United States, the European Union and others?