Ceres Inc. President and CEO Richard Hamilton addressed the National Academy of Sciences on the impact of technology advances and public policy on energy crops this week.
During his presentation to the organization's Government-University-Industry Research Roundtable he said that biotechnology-based innovations across the biofuels production chain will bring the cost of a new generation of cellulosic biofuels down significantly, while vastly increasing supply.
"Biofuels produced from dedicated energy crops will be able to compete economically with gasoline, but the industry will need support early on to get the first several cellulosic biorefineries built," Hamilton said.
Hamilton recently addressed the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, and the House Agriculture Committee. He has served as vice chairman of the Biotechnology Industry Organization and chaired their Food and Agriculture Governing Board. He is currently a member of their board of directors.