BioFuels Journal spoke March 17 with POET’s Vice President of Science and Technology Mark Stowers about his role on the California Air Resources Board (CARB) 30-member expert work group.
The group is charged with "refining and improving the land use and indirect effect analysis of transportation fuels."
Dr. Stowers recently returned from California after a preliminary meeting with the 30-member expert group.
Highlights from the Podcast
• Corn yields could double by the year 2030.
• Increasing yields should be accounted for with indirect land use change calculations.
• Farm land decreasing due to urban sprawl and we are producing more food, fiber and fuel off that declining agricultural base.
• The indirect land use change penalties associated with ethanol will be reviewed with hard science.
• Stowers is the sole representative of scienctists representing the ethanol industry.
Dr. Mark D. Stowers, Vice President of Science and Technology— biography
Mark D. Stowers, Ph.D. joined POET in October, 2006 as the Senior Vice President of Science and Technology.
In that capacity, Dr. Stowers is responsible for overseeing scientific and technology advancement for the company, including cellulosic ethanol.
Stowers came to POET from MBI International in Lansing, MI where he had served as President and CEO since 2001.
MBI International is a leading firm focused on the development, scale-up, and commercialization of products from biotechnology.
Stowers was involved in numerous projects funded through the U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
A native of Houston, TX, Stowers graduated from Appalachian State University with a Bachelor of Science in biology before earning his Master of Science and Ph.D. in microbiology from North Carolina State University.
He completed post-doctoral studies at Cornell University's Boyce Thompson Institute.
For more information, call POET at 605-965-2200.
