What We’re Reading

November 16, 2009

Each week, I highlight important industry news stories and trends. Here is some interesting industry news for this week:

EU and US join forces to boost energy cooperation
Energy Efficiency News, November 5, 2009
Energy Efficiency News reports that the E.U. and U.S. are collaborating on a new energy council to meet common goals on energy issues including new technologies, low-carbon sources and security of supply.  The creation of the new council was decided on November 4th during the inaugural meeting of the EU-US Energy Council. Sweden’s Enterprise and Energy Minister Maud Olofsson led the meeting, with EU Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs, his research counterpart Janez Potonik and US Energy Secretary Steven Chu acting as participants.

According to EU Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs, “the Energy Council is a timely initiative in the context of growing global concerns on energy security and the important role that the energy sector has in climate change.”

Although there are currently very few details on specific goals, we’ll continue to watch for further developments and its impact on low-carbon alternatives.

Monsanto Opens First Biotechnology Research Center in China
Reuters, November 4, 2009
According to Reuters, the Monsanto Company is opening its first research center in Beijing, China. The agricultural biotech company will use the facility to research crop sustainability and productivity. Vice president of biotechnology for Monsanto Stephen Padgette said, “Monsanto has made a commitment to develop advanced biotech and breeding technology to China. The establishment of the center will give Chinese researchers access to our global research network and to our industry-leading product development pipeline.”

By expanding to China, the Missouri-based company will have the opportunity to take advantage of the resources in the country, including the research already being conducted in China. With a growing worldwide population and multiple obstacles, including energy sources and climate change, hindering crop supply, it’s important  that biotech companies thoughtfully explore every possible resource to improve sustainability.