By Todd Pray
The world wastes a lot. California wastes a lot. With the ABPDU based in California it is impossible to ignore what’s happening around us. The California Energy Commission recently published some alarming statistics:
- Californians create nearly 2,900 pounds of household garbage and industrial waste each and every second.
- Of this staggering amount, 43.2 million tons is recovered and recycled or used to make energy.
- But, 42 million tons has still to be disposed in landfills. And then what?
California, as usual, is not taking this lying down. They have an action plan for utilizing the biomass waste. In 2014, 6,572 gigawatt hours of electricity in homes and businesses was produced from this very waste—forestry residue, agricultural and urban biomass, and more. Biomass plants produced 3.33 percent of the total electricity in California.
Being program head at ABPDU is so much more than a job. Throughout my career, I have been committed to developing bioscience technologies that improve human health and environmental sustainability across a broad spectrum of pharmaceutical, food science and renewable fuel and chemical product R&D programs. Biofuels and bioproducts are so much more than the widely touted bioeconomy. Take a look at the presentation I made at the University of Chicago alumni meeting. I hope it will interest you to learn more about our future sustainability, health, and quality of life. And why utilizing biomass is really important.