Cindy's Fellowship at RMI focused on assessing the environmental performance of biofuels and determining a desirable future for biofuel development. Motivated by policy mandates and economic incentives, the global biofuel industry is under rapid expansion. As a first step to determine a desirable future for biofuels, Cindy evaluated biofuels on various social and environmental criteria. Cindy identified waste feedstocks such as municipal solid waste, agricultural and forestry residues and recycled cooking oil and energy crops to be good candidates in lowering energy input for feedstock production. She also found that supplying electricity through biomass combustion is key to lowering the energy input and carbon intensity of biofuel conversion.

As a second step, Cindy performed biofuels market analysis to understand the current biofuel market and forecast future trends in the biofuels industry. Based on the results from these two steps, Cindy and the team at RMI determined a desirable future for biofuels, identified strategies to overcome barriers to implementation of the desired path, and made policy recommendations through a biofuels white paper. This whitepaper will serve as a tool to guide policymakers in making informed decisions on biofuels in the future.

"The MAP Fellowship provided me with an opportunity to gain project experiences at RMI that are directly relevant to the energy efficiency and renewable energy industries, which will prepare me well for a career transition into energy efficiency and renewable energy."

"MAP fellows are able to contribute substantively to the work we do. Because of this, we can accomplish our mission more quickly and based on a broader base of knowledge and experience."