Mother Nature Network MNN to Report from United Nations' Climate Conference

/PRNewswire/ -- Mother Nature Network MNN http://www.mnn.com/ , one of the nation's fastest-growing Websites devoted to environmental news and information, announced today team coverage of the United Nations' Climate Conference in Copenhagen.

MNN blogger Karl Burkart, a recognized expert on green media and technology, as well as MNN student correspondent Mary Shindler, will be reporting live as ambassadors convene this week in the Danish capital to begin debating ways to protect and preserve the environment.

President Obama will attend and is expected to propose a U.S. emissions target in line with final U.S. energy and climate legislation. But the battle for a more sustainable, eco-friendly future goes beyond the key players and the main issues. Burkart and Shindler plan to dig beneath the politics to provide MNN readers a fresh, behind-the-scenes look at what's been called one of the most important international meetings in history.

"It's been suggested that more than half of Americans say they've never heard of cap and trade," said Burkhart, http://www.mnn.com/users/kburkart/profile, who has helped launch several eco-websites and has lectured worldwide on the subjects of digital media, technology, and the environment. "Mother Nature Network has gone the extra mile to raise awareness of cap and trade and other complex climate change issues, and as is MNN's mantra, we'll take all the academic, sophisticated notions from this conference and boil them down in a voice the average person can understand."

Added Shindler http://www.mnn.com/users/mshindler, a student at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Va.: "Communicating the urgency of the problem is critical. I want to do all I can to make sure the opinions of young people are heard at this conference. It is our generation and those to come, who will be most affected by climate change, and we should have a voice in what happens. As a reporter on site, I will ask the questions that young people want answers to, and dutifully report them to the MNN audience around the globe."

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Politicians to Drive on Straw-Based Bioethanol at the Climate Change Conference

/PRNewswire/ -- When world political leaders are being transported all over Copenhagen during the United Nations Climate Change Conference in December 2009, environmentally friendly fuel will power their vehicles. Members of the Partnership for Biofuels, a co-operation between Danisco's biotech division Genencor, Inbicon, Novozymes and Statoil, have joined forces to deliver 2nd generation bioethanol for 40 of the cars that the Danish Foreign Ministry will provide during the conference. The cars will be supplied by Volvo.

"As host nation, Denmark is working to create a green and climate friendly Conference in December," says Svend Olling, Head of Department in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. "We also plan to showcase to the conference delegates some of the new technologies that could contribute to solving the climate challenge. Second-generation bioethanol -- ethanol made from agricultural waste -- is one example of such a new technology. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is therefore happy that, in co-operation with the Partnership for Biofuels, it has succeeded in reserving some of the first litres of 2nd generation bioethanol produced in Denmark for the transportation of important guests within Copenhagen during the Conference."

Inbicon, the DONG Energy subsidiary that is commercializing its technology for converting straw into bioethanol, will produce the new fuel at its pilot plant in Denmark. With this technology, a car's emission of CO2 is reduced by 85% compared to that from conventional petrol. The fuel blend used at the Climate Change Conference will be E85, which is composed of 85% bioethanol and 15% petrol.

The Partnership's capabilities to produce 2nd generation bioethanol represents considerable potential in the climate debate, as conventional fuel such as petrol can be replaced. Second-generation bioethanol can be produced from residual products from forestry, agriculture and other industries.

Novozymes and Danisco will supply the enzymes for ethanol production and Statoil will provide the distribution facilities.

The development of the 2nd generation bioethanol technology represents an important business potential through the export of technological solutions and knowledge within the development and use of enzymes.

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