Emil Jacobs of ExxonMobil on "The Energy Challenge: Providing Sustainable Supplies to Meet Growing Demand" [On Location]

This post is presented by SBE, the Society for Biological Engineering--a global organization of leading engineers and scientists dedicated to advancing the integration of biology with engineering. Dr. F. E. (Emil) Jacobs is the vice president of Research and Development for ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company. His keynote address "The Energy Challenge: Providing Sustainable Supplies to Meet Growing Demand," was a standing-room only affair. Emil has worked for Exxon in various positions and locations around the world since 1978. He's a member of the Advisory Board of the College of Chemistry at UC Berkeley, the Chemical Engineering Advisory Council at Princeton, ACS, and AIChE among others. Read his full bio to appreciate the breadth of his experience. Dr. Jacob's presentation was thorough and easy to follow, and he covered a great deal of material in a short time. You can view some of the slides and see photos from the speech on Flickr. One aspect of Emil's presentation that was focused on what ExxonMobil is doing to expand energy supplies. In 2009, ExxonMobil made a $600 million investment in renewable energy, specifically in algae-based biofuels, according the the New York Times. They are collaborating with biotech company Synthetic Genomics, Inc. (founded by Craig Venter) on a five- to six-year project to research next-generation biofuels. Dr. Jacobs, quoted by the New York Times:

"It's going to take integrated solutions and the development of all commercially viable energy sources, improved energy efficiency and effective steps to curb emissions. It is also going to include the development of new technology."

You can read the complete article on the New York Times.

Here are a few photos from the presentation:

Check back with us to see and hear Dr. Emil Jacob's full presentation on ChemE On Demand.