Upstream

  1. Transportation of the weight of biomass is expensive. Converting it needs to be local.
  2. Costs of transportation can become excessive
  3. Most municipal waste is not recycled properly
  4. What can we do with invasive species?
  5. Companies need access to feedstock
  6. As a dairy farmer, a big company is suspicious
  7. Small dairy farmers don’t have access to digesters
  8. Money is available for establishing digestors but grant writing is complicated
  9. Is there a local source of feedstock to meet Aemetis ethanol needs?
  10. Smaller waste streams, agricultural crops that are grown in or imported into California may be overlooked because of their smaller volume
  11. Some, or perhaps many, biomass wastes may not have a high-value alternative use.
  12. Many areas of the Ag community have systems in place to utilize the excess biomass on their farms. However, there are untapped sources of biomass, like cattails, and water hyacinth
  13. How can we use biomass that is not used in feedstock to create products?
  14. There are limits to the management of Municipal Solid Waste in local areas due to the lack of a recycling plant in Stanislaus County
  15. Municipalities find it too expensive to transform existing landfills into landfill gas producers which capture biogas.
  16. How to manage biomass in such a way as to improve the quality of water within local communities (like finding a replacement to nitrate fertilizers or using biochar to chelate)
  17. Almond hulls and shells are currently not valuable even though they are 75% of what almond growers produce.
  18. How can we recover biomass from school cafeterias?
  19. How to get manure into a safe, usable form since it may contain E. Coli or salmonella
  20. Farmers can’t afford equipment to turn woody biomass into woodchips
  21. There is a lack of some agricultural materials in the area, for example those needed for dairy feed
  22. Synthetic fertilizer causes farmers to need to use more fertilizer
  23. Why are orchards paying someone to ground up their trees for mulch/compost when there are monetizable alternative uses for woody biomass?
  24. Farmers have a lot of woody biomass they don’t know what to do with
  25. Biomass moisture content presents problems for transportation and storage
  26. For almond farmers, unit cost per acre has gone down due to the increase in input costs, taxes, and regulations. This means that farmers are having trouble paying the bills since they aren’t making a profit
  27. How can Christmas trees be repurposed?

    Manufacturing/Technology/Business

  28. Biofuel factories cost a lot to build and may not be very profitable.
  29. Cost of transporting dirt to build retention pond for dairy digester
  30. Biotech companies do not have a body of trained workers to employ
  31. It’s easier for manufacturers to produce objects out of petroleum-based plastics than bio-based plastics
  32. Patenting organisms may introduce ethical issues.
  33. Too many innovators get stuck in “pilot” stage of their company
  34. This tri-county region may not be attractive enough to lure the necessary talent that can build these bio-manufacturing facilities.
  35. Employers consistently express frustration over the accessibility, responsiveness, and alignment of supports in sourcing mid-skill talent across industries and occupations. (Pulled directly from Stan 2030 report, page 11.)
  36. The County has relatively weak institutional capabilities in research, development, and commercialization that can bring value-add products to market or provide firms with a problem-solving partner to anchor them in the region. (Pulled directly from Stan 2030 report, page 11)
  37. Biotechnology is inherently dangerous, and should something go wrong, our community could be ground zero for an ecological disaster.
  38. Are there alternatives to corn which provide an equally efficient and inexpensive way for companies to produce ethanol for biofuel?
  39. How to rebuild local infrastructure and make it more environmentally friendly.
  40. Money for fixing machinery and even the time going into trying to find replacements for the machines take time.
  41. What can be done to reduce transportation costs for products to be imported and exported to local areas
  42. Besides large agricultural businesses, there is a lack of small businesses that produce bio-based products
  43. Biotech infrastructure is expensive to build
  44. Dairy farmers who don’t have a biodigester let the methane go into the atmosphere
  45. Successfully integrating innovative methods into the handling of biomass disposal or diversion within industrial settings requires a meticulous consideration of operational intricacies and potential disruptions.
  46. Many pioneering entrepreneurs find themselves entangled in the “pilot” phase of their ventures primarily due to the scarcity of available investment opportunities and grants. Overcoming this hurdle necessitates a comprehensive strategy that addresses funding gaps, fosters investor confidence, and propels innovative biomass initiatives toward commercialization.
  47. The act of patenting traditional knowledge or biological resources can potentially lead to biopiracy, a concern particularly relevant to indigenous and local communities. By appropriating these invaluable assets without adequate recognition or compensation, such patenting practices compromise both ethical considerations and the sustainable preservation of diverse cultural and ecological heritage.
  48. How can biomass be used as feed for black soldier fly larvae
  49. The younger demographic of San Joaquin Valley means that we have a less experienced and less skilled workforce.
  50. How can we access and then test out research done in university settings?
  51. Plastic serves an important role in keeping food products sanitary for consumers. New bio-made plastic alternatives will need to adequately serve the same purpose.
  52. How can we use invasive species like mistletoe, water hyacinth and cattails to create products?
  53. At Aemetis and probably other manufacturing companies, operators are hard to hire and keep onboard
  54. How to reduce the costs of making eco-friendly products
  55. We don’t have a big enough workforce to do biotech since it has been outsourced to other countries such as in Europe, China, and Brazil
  56. Advanced Biofuels Process Development Unit (ABPDU) at Laurence Berkeley Lab (LBL) can’t keep people employed at the company since employees are getting poached to other companies. There is a lack of highly trained/qualified people in the industry
  57. Most of the workers with the interest, passion, or education to be hired at biotech companies for research positions are commuting out of the Central Valley
  58. In order to create an industry here we need workers, but to bring workers back we need an industry.

    Downstream

  59. Biomass products are too expensive, how do/can we lower those prices?
  60. Bio based products are more expensive than traditional plastics, etc
  61. Biochar seems too expensive to farmers
  62. Selling bio-made products requires a specialized knowledge base
  63. Selling bio-made products requires the ability to effectively communicate a cost benefit
  64. To sell bio-made products one has to effectively communicate their benefits
  65. Biotech solutions on farms are too costly to implement
  66. It’s cheap and easy for Americans to buy single use plastics
  67. How to get consumers to want bio-made products
  68. Biofuel is not easily accessible to the public
  69. There aren’t Extended Producer Responsibility laws to hold corporations, like Coca-cola, responsible for the unrecyclable materials they are proliferating throughout the world (packaging, solar panels, batteries, etc.)

    Education/Awareness

  70. Not enough public understanding of what biotech/biomanufacturing is
  71. Biology and industrial electronics teachers are not teaching bio-tech
  72. Biotech degrees/education seem too scientific for industrial and career ed disciplines to teach
  73. The biotech industry seems too small for colleges to train students for
  74. People in Stan County don’t necessarily know about or feel the need for biotech
  75. There is not a streamlined pipeline from high school to career in bio-tech in Modesto
  76. Biomanufacturing education seems too blue collar to teach as an academic discipline
  77. MJC students don’t have access to biotech training
  78. Most people are unaware of what happens to things places in blue/green bins
  79. Many local agriculturalists aren’t familiar with benefits of biochar
  80. Stanislaus residents lack training in biomass conversion
  81. Young farmers need to be introduced into circular economy
  82. Educating dairy farmers about anaerobic digestion
  83. Educating environmental justice people/general public about digestors
  84. People with potentially good ideas do not have an easily accessible and identifiable forum or audience in which to present their ideas.
  85. There is a lack of funding to expand curriculum and education on high school campuses.
  86. There is a lot of misinformation and stigma surrounding the science community which creates setbacks in education, awareness, and outreach
  87. There are minimal educators willing to put the time, effort, and energy into teaching biotechnology classes.
  88. We need a streamlined education pathway in Stanislaus County to working in biotech
  89. We need small scale projects on campus to teach students /publicize new opportunities
  90. Most workers in the valley are uneducated and unskilled
  91. How can we educate students more in these important topics? In school you have to take a certain class to even learn about these instead of having them learn as a requirement
  92. Agriculturalists (Gardeners, landscapers, and farmers) need to be educated on the value of “spent compost” or second use compost for their soil. (Monterey Mushroom substrate)
  93. How can we expose young children to biotech education and influence their path from a young age
  94. We need a future educated workforce in advance of when we need them, but we are uncertain of what that workforce looks like and how it differs from our current workforce
  95. Most farmers are not exposed to or educated about possible sustainable practices that can be implemented on their property
  96. Parents of high school students in Modesto don’t care about their children’s education as much as parents from the bay area1.
  97. Modesto’s education level is low, so people usually move out of the area for skilled jobs
  98. The production process of bio-based products is new and the public lacks the education on these materials and therefore are hesitant to allow biomanufacturing companies into their cities.
  99. We lack a streamlined process from high school into the workforce
  100. How can we better educate farmers, gardeners, and landscapers of the benefits of biochar and second-hand compost?
  101. How can we get the community involved in these projects?
  102. The 4th industrial revolution of bio-based technology needs to be contextualized for outsiders. Is it new technology or just new applications?
  103. There is a lack of respect for nature in the area. Many people benefit off of nature but do not give back and do not protect what is in existence.
  104. The Ag and Biology depts at MJC need to engage in building a biotech program at school
  105. Farmers need to become aware of potential resources, like trees and methane, that are wasted in their farms operations
  106. Applying for grants for small farmers may not be equitable, since there may be a language barrier with some of the farmers or they may not have enough time
  107. How do we get the conversation/topic about biotech out into the general community rather than just in academia?
  108. How can a summer program/bootcamp be created for school-aged kids to get hands on experience with biotech
  109. How can we expand our current communication channels and develop more ways of reaching the community to talk about biomass/biotech
  110. MJC should have a chemistry class/program focused on beer, wine and coffee making
  111. Need to build or rebuild relationships between School’s Biotech programs and large industries like Gallo, Del Monte, Bronco, Blue Diamond’s, etc.
  112. How to make more biomanufacturing and biotechnology programs accessible to more schools and colleges
  113. There is a lack of trust in bio-manufactured materials
  114. There is a myth that renewable natural gasses produced from methane would smell like cow poop
  115. There is a myth that farmers are wealthy, but in reality, land is not liquid asset
  116. Biotechnology is not a commonly understood or talked about industry
  117. Need intermediary between farmers and companies who can provide answers and demystify farmer’s concerns (Ph levels, does methane stink) regarding bioindustrial products like biochar or ethanol
  118. Nursing program is in high demand, leading to a long waitlist with many students waiting to be accepted. These students are interested in health and have taken the science prereqs, and they could possibly be attracted to other jobs in biotech if it were advertised
  119. Local and county officials’ awareness about the biotech industry is not high enough to secure funding and bring business to the area
  120. Environmental Justice Groups have an outsized voice and shut down discourse causing insufficient public information which blocks biomanufacturing progress
  121. Enochs High School has a biotech/forensics program but risks losing their funding due to not being able to get enough at-risk students into the program. They have a full curriculum developed, but have not expanded to other schools.
  122. Hiring (HR) groups in schools, non-profits, and companies need to be publicizing jobs with biotech industries
  123. Biotech companies should be building relationships with homeless worker organizations which can provide good jobs for Stanislaus County’s vast homeless population.
  124. Farmers don’t understand newer bio technology and aren’t easily persuaded to adopt it for fear of public scrutiny
  125. Foreign born and non US citizens may not be aware of what opportunities are available to them in biotech

    Systemic problems

  126. Starts-ups need policy and funding help to get started and to compete with existing companies
  127. What can we do to replace plastics
  128. Americans create excessive amounts of plastic waste
  129. Must maintain agricultural land while building new biotech facilities
  130. Methane is a bane of the dairy industry
  131. If carbon digesters only meet part of dairy’s carbon neutrality goals how will they meet the rest
  132. There is no guarantee that some, or many, of the bio-manufacturing jobs will meet the “good jobs” threshold criteria.
  133. Not all biomass products and processes are clean for the environment
  134. Many scientists are discouraged from continuing their work because of bureaucratic roadblocks and regulations.
  135. Certain issues faced by the unhoused community can be diminished using biotechnology to convert agricultural waste into a consumer product.
  136. Policy makers need to stabilize and streamline permitting process for companies to build biotech facilities like carbon sequestration, anaerobic digesters, biofuel power plants, etc.
  137. What incentives can be offered from waste management for lower income individuals to afford services needed?
  138. Some issues faced by low socioeconomic communities could be combated or alleviated by biotechnology practices and innovations.
  139. The Stanislaus County area is filled with people who enjoy nature and wide open-spaces, building new manufacturing buildings is likely to be faced with push-back
  140. Modesto is not an area companies want to do R&D in
  141. The community may be uninterested or uninformed about local sustainability efforts.
  142. New rules and regulations cost farmers a lot of money to comply
  143. There is a decent amount of production jobs in this area but there is an extreme lack of Research and Development
  144. Why aren’t we using the many vacant warehouses in to help build an bio-economy in Modesto
  145. There is little coordination between colleges and the local workforce when it comes to bio-manufacturing
  146. How do we protect the workers in an industry that we may well destroy?
  147. What can be done to produce more biodegradable plastic products as opposed to petroleum or fossil raw based plastic products.
  148. Farmers are interested in fallowing, but are unsure if they would be able to pay the bills if they did.
  149. Laboratories and research institutes, due to scarcity of funding, prioritize funding efforts over input efforts, which leads to lowered productivity and progress.
  150. Byproducts of biomass processing, such as biocides, potentially introduce more problems than the ones biomass processing is aiming to solve.
  151. The production process of bio-based products is perceptibly new, the public lacks the education on these materials, and therefore could be hesitant to allow bio manufacturing companies into their cities.
  152. Intense focus on big ticket industry adoption and inclusion detracts from wider, small to medium scale cottage industry potentials for biomass remediation, such as mycology.
  153. There is no sustainable biomass conversion technology that efficiently transforms diverse organic materials into valuable biofuels and bioproducts, addressing scalability, resource efficiency, and environmental impact while ensuring economic viability and minimizing waste.
  154. Currently exists a demand to accessible trash sorting education programs to enable resident from all demographic backgrounds, using interactive and multimedia elements, available in different languages to effectively communicate the importance of waste sorting, expecting improvements in waste management practices and reduced environmental impact
  155. It is important to address the issue of wasted plastic bottles, focusing on reduction, collection, and recycling initiatives, considering consumer behavior, infrastructure development, and stakeholder collaboration, with the goal of minimizing plastic waste, conserving resources, opening market to new developments while mitigating environmental impact
  156. The Stanislaus population is primarly integrated of older generation individuals who are skeptical about the current climate crisis, approaching to them and dissolving their stigmas and questions is key to increase te belief and trust to enable new markets to establish themselves in the county opening doors to investments
  157. Currently the primary pest control methods (other than pesticides) are old techniques like wind rows but as the weather changes, it depends on many factors and variables that will affect the effectiveness of this methods
  158. Some farmers use alternative techniques like predator insects but there is still not a lot of resources to effectively battle pests