SYRACUSE, NY (Feb 4, 2014) – Dr. Thomas E. Amidon has been designated one of the top 300 most influential people in the bioeconomy, as selected by editors of the field’s most widely distributed trade publication, Biofuels Digest. The bioeconomy is a reference to the use of biological material, such as trees, plants, algae, and municipal solid waste, as the basis for creating energy and other commercial goods.
In being honored with this distinction, Dr. Amidon joins the ranks shared by Tom Vilsack, the US Secretary of Agriculture; Ernest Moniz, the US Secretary of Energy; and a group of CEOs from around the world whose companies are leading the next-generation development of renewable energy and sustainable products. Dr. Amidon was also recently presented with the SUNY College of Environmental Sciences & Forestry’s “Exemplary Researcher Award” for his work at the university where he is a professor and former department chair.
Dr. Amidon will address leading members of the paper and pulp industry at a conference later this year in Helsinki, Finland. In his keynote address, Dr. Amidon will discuss the prospect of using wood and other non-food plants as a raw material to produce a range of everyday products, such as gasoline and plastic bottles, which are currently made from crude oil. Known as biorefining, this process creates sustainable products to serve the world’s growing population without putting additional strain on natural resources, and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the lifecycle of consumer goods. Dr. Amidon co-founded Applied Biorefinery Sciences which seeks to commercialize this technology in Upstate New York and other forested regions, creating dozens of permanent, non-exportable jobs in rural communities across America.
Applied Biorefinery Sciences is a developer of biorefinery process technologies headquartered in Syracuse, NY. Empire State Development recently awarded the company $881,960 toward the construction of a facility to commercially demonstrate their biorefining innovations in Lewis County, NY.
For more information, please visit www.absciences.com.