An audience of 450 technology stakeholders came together at the Microsoft Conference Center in Redmond, Washington, to learn about issues and opportunities for statewide growth in four specific industry sectors: renewable energy, software, agriculture and aerospace.

While listening to the the keynotes and following the Renewable Energy track, I saw three clear themes emerge.

Themes: education, competitiveness, and awareness
Panelists and speakers concurred that education is the key to retaining Washington state's role as a technology leader. Speakers highlighted the importance of workforce training, basic education from K-12 through higher education, and basic computer literacy. Pamela Passman, Microsoft VP of Global Corporate Affairs, stressed how important education is to the tech industry. She said we're only scratching the surface of what technology can do for education, and what education can to to sustain a successful technology industry.

Competitiveness was the second theme, in which the challenges were more prevalent than the solutions. Juli Wilkerson, Director of Washington state's economic development department, suggested thinking of the state as a small country. This perspective, she said, would affect how we conduct ourselves in a global economy.

"We heard four or so different views of outsourcing today, and all of them were right," said WTC Executive Director Lee Cheatham in his closing remarks. "We have to deal with the issue head-on, and there are many ways to go about it."

The third theme was the need for energy awareness and education, to erase public misperceptions about energy.

Renewable Energy track focused on alternative fuels
Energy was a popular track. In one of the three sessions, in the largest breakout room of the conference, there was standing room only. Attendees clearly were enthusiastic about the topic. All three of the energy track sessions were about alternative fuels.

In the first session, the USDA's Chris Cassidy presented information on government loan and grant opportunities. In the Department of Agriculture's view, farmers should treat the wind and sun on their land as agricultural products. Cassidy is a Program Director whose agency puts $30 billion into such programs annually to help farmers develop renewable energy resources. In many of these cases, the money is used to develop biomass energy projects, such as anaerobic digesters on dairy farms.

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"Bioneers" was a session hosted by NWETC Executive Director Jeff Morris. Panelists represented Seattle Biodiesel, the Spokane Conservation District, Fleet Challenge Canada, and the West Coast Fuel Collaborative.

The challenges for biodiesel producers are quite different on each side of the U.S.-Canada border. In the United States, a major goal is to reduce the dependence on foreign oil. Demand exceeds supply, and awareness got a big boost in 2006 triggered by the famous "addicted to oil" presidential speech.

In Canada, which is a major oil exporter to America, a key goal is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Supply exceeds domestic demand, and biofuels producers need volume purchasers in order to get their sector off the ground. Fleet Challenge Canada is an effort to educate and convert trucking companies.

Both countries face some common challenges in advancing the use of biofuels, first and foremost, access to the fuel distribution infrastructure. Fuel quality is another significant challenge, a side effect of using a fuel that bacteria consider food.

And of course there is the price disadvantage (although during the conference the pump price of dinosaur diesel was about 10 cents higher than that of biodiesel). I asked the panelists about the imbalance of government financial support.

"Biodiesel right now enjoys a dollar a gallon credit," responded John Plaza, CEO of Seattle Biodiesel, "and the latest study by the GAO shows that the petroleum industry got an additional $18 billion subsidy from the 2005 energy bill." Plaza figures that equals at least $1.50 per gallon in direct subsidies for fossil fuels, compared to the $1.00 in subsidies for biodiesel. Parity in government supports, which could make biodiesel 60 cents cheaper at the pump than petroleum-based diesel, might be the boost the biodiesel industry needs to break America's addiction.

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In the final session on energy, two professors presented the latest innovations in biofuel production. Dr. David Hackleman of Oregon State University did an excellent job of explaining the production process as a flow diagram, then examining innovations at each step of the process.

Hackleman drilled down on the growing process and the experiments to develop crops that can render their own oils as biofuels, rather than extracting the oils in a crusher and processing them. The technique has to do with drying the seeds, then rehydrating them with ethanol to trigger the seeds' internal enzymatic processes. The result is biodiesel and water.

He talked about the research in other steps of the production process. Microreactors speed biodiesel production, in a minimal amount of space. Enzymes can be used as a catalyst, instead of alcohol, for a low-energy, low-heat process; the challenge is the expense of the enzymes, so the research is focusing on how to retain the enzymes instead of losing them in production.

Dr. Jon Van Gerpen of the University of Idaho continued the discussion by presenting research into feed stocks that cost less or deliver a higher yield, as well as techniques to improve oil extraction or use by-products of other processes. He also explained that there are 15 to 20 additives in conventional petroleum-based fuels, and there is research into additives that would stabilize biodiesel or improve its cold-flow properties.

Dr. Van Gerpen stressed the need for public awareness about renewable fuels, and pointed attendees to BiodieselBasics.com, a web site created to disseminate information about biodiesel. Van Gerpen is a co-author of "Building a Biodiesel Business," a book developed under a grant from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.