Within the last decade, the identification and cultivation of plants rich in hydrocarbons as renewable sources of chemicals for use as fuel and chemical feedstocks have generated considerable interest. The worldwide increase in demand and depletion of fossil hydrocarbons warrant development of alternate sources of fuels and chemicals. Renewable sources would not only reduce global dependency on strategic and essential materials, especially petroleum products, but could also stimulate economic growth.

 

  High petroleum cost and environmental concerns stimulated in the last years a living attention to  renewable energy sources. One of the more interesting chances is given by vegetable oils and their derivatives. Fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) for car fuel and energy generation are reaching the same annual volume as the sum of all the other oleochemical productions. Several biodiesel plants, 100.000 tons/year capacity, are going on stream mainly in EU and US. EU and US have set mandates for biofuels for 2010, which require substantial increase in share of feedstock used for biofuels. Massive increase in biofuel demand in the EU generates strong demand for oilseeds. Domestic oilseed output increases by 26% from 2006-2010, with shortage met by increased imports of oilseeds: EU imports rise by $4 billion. This large scale increase in biodiesel production could have profound implications on global agricultural output, land use, and international trade.

 

  Despite the old tradition and the established technical knowledge of FAME production, the economic and quality requirements of the new use force to a deep revision of the existing technologies, and to the development of new, more efficient processes. An impressive number of patents documents these technical efforts in the last 10 years.

  The second Symposium lecture is focusing on the economic and legal constraints which influence the characteristics of the new processes and, on the basis of physical and chemical principles, on the technical aspects of existing and new processes. In a more long perspective, performances of the current products and technologies in front of the desired characteristics are discussed. The need of more suitable vegetable raw materials is underlined. The different roles of Agronomists, Chemists and Chemical Engineers for the new technologies development are depicted.

  According to the previous events, all the subjects of interest for sunflower industrials uses will be considered for the scientific programme of the conference. However, special attention will be paid to the aspects of Environmental Sustainability of oleochemichal production and how we could improve the sunflower yield in sustainable way.

 

  The main topics covered in the conference will be the following: