Interesting interview with Jim Watson, former President of the Royal Society of NZ on Kathryn Ryan’s Nine to Noon programme this morning (podcast here, but only for a week). Watson, the founder scientist of Genesis Research & Development discusses the new Biojoule project being established at Taupo. A species of willow (not the cricket bat kind) will be grown and harvested to produce ethanol as a biofuel, and lignin, a biological chemical alternative to hydrocarbons from fossil fuel as a feedstock for plastics. Home grown technology in every sense of the word.
Related posts:
- Coppiced willow farming here
- The whey forward?
- Go with the flow: NZ algae pioneers spark US interest
- South Island partnership in renewable biofuel
- Formerly the weekend roundup
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Hot Topic, the first popular science book to examine global warming from a New Zealand perspective, was 
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Jim Watson chaired the Energy Panel of the Royal Society of New Zealand. Its August 2006 report, 2020:Energy Opportunities, was a thorough and highly constructive contribution to the development of a national energy strategy, and it was disappointing to see it given little media attention. One hopes that it is figuring prominently in the government’s current considerations.
The RS report is a very interesting document, and I used it in the research for HT. It’s available here. It suggests that cellulosic ethanol (which is what Jim’s on about) could supply all of NZ’s liquid fuel needs, with a highly valuable by-product in the lignin. Great idea. Let’s do it…
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