Welcome Message by the Chairman 2010 ICSB

Food shortage, flooding and the melting glaciers, all these dreading images once pictured in the films are now happening in our real lives. The drastic change of climate and the speed it has developed are beyond our imagination. According to the statistic report from Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the Earth’s temperature has raised by 0.76°C in average since 1850. For the past 50 years, the excessive amount of carbon dioxide and Greenhouse gas emission has also contributed to global warming. If we don’t do anything to control this, it is estimated that the Earth’s temperature might go on to increase by another 1.8°C to 4°C; the worst case scenario will bring the Earth’s temperature up to 6.4°C, which will lead to the distinction of several species on Earth. With the ever-growing awareness that people have concerning the environmental protection, it pretty much explains why the COP15, held last year in Copenhagen, has attracted so much attention from the public. The conference also declared a joint commitment to put a cap on the ongoing increase in global temperature by 2°C and to establish the Copenhagen Green Climate Fund. Nevertheless, the responsibility of stopping global warming lies not only to the government but also to every one of us.

Energy security and independence are vital to national security and economic, and there has been an international trend to develop renewable energy. Based on the International Energy Agency statistic report, Biomass is the fourth main energy source in the world today. Apart from generating electricity and producing heat, Biomass can also be converted to Biofuels with higher economic value. Unlike the previous stereotype of Bioenergy damaging the global food supply, the new generation of Biofuel emphasizes on the use of non-food biomass (i.e. seaweed) for production.

Since our establishment in 1950, we have been aiming at educating the most distinguished scholars that are equipped with international perspective. While we are celebrating the 60th anniversary, the Institute of European Studies is going to hold “2010 International Conference on sustainable Biomass” and has invited almost 40 experts from France, ASEAN and Taiwan to share their views during the Conference, and help us to take a closer look at the following main topics:

1). Biofuels production and the fermentation process ;

2). Bioenergies and Sustainable Environment Scientific Advanced Researches;

3). Biomass pyrolysis and Gasification Researches;

4). Bioenergy Economy and Environmental Issues;

5). Bioenergies from Algae;

6). EU Bioenergies Strategies and Policies;

7). Sustainable Policies for Renewable Energies.

Besides academic exchanges, we will also have open session to researchers from related fields and guests from the business, media and government sectors.

By this opportunity provided by the conference, we are looking forward to building an international cooperation platform for regular research exchanges and we also encourage our students to know more about European Biomass development for the future need.

淡江大學校長
Flora Chang