The Environmental and Energy Study Institute sponsored a roundtable discussion featuring Bruce E. Dale, professor and chair of the Department of Chemical Engineering at Michigan State University. Professor Dale has testified before Congress regarding biobased industrial products and recently directed a National Research Council panel report entitled "Biobased Industrial Products: Research and Commercialization Priorities." He discussed the impacts of producing products from biomass on land use and food supply.

Agricultural raw materials can produce a wide variety of biobased industrial products including liquid fuels, chemicals, lubricants, plastics, building materials, foods and feeds. These products are produced in biorefineries, which are integrated processing systems that convert agricultural matter into useful products. Compared to petroleum-based industrial products, agriculturally derived commodities have the potential to improve sustainability of natural resources, environmental quality, and national security while competing economically.

The development of biobased industries has raised several concerns among policy-makers and environmentalists, such as possible impacts on land use and food production. According to the National Research Council panel report, the United States is well prepared to supply industrial production’s growing demand for biological raw materials. "The expansion of biobased industries will depend on currently unused land and by-products of U.S. agriculture and forestry, on expected increases in crop productivity and on coproduction of biobased products with traditional food, feed, and fiber products." In addition, growing large amounts of biomass to supply a fuels industry will induce economic pressures to increase crop yields, thereby making the entire agricultural production system more efficient and increasing world food resources.