Alumni Relations and Development
vlgsConnect
Dan Phillips leads business development on all things related to renewable diesel in the Americas for Air Liquide's Engineering and Construction – Green Chemicals and Fuels group. After a stint as a government attorney and solo practitioner, he transitioned to renewable fuel technology development. It was a garage-based biodiesel experiment that led to this career shift. Since then, Phillips has scaled up renewable fuels projects, including the construction of a 15 million gallon a year biodiesel plant and a demonstration scale biocrude facility. In 2010, he began managing Solazyme's algal fuel initiatives which have included the certification of advanced drop-in biofuel specifications with the US Navy, which culminated in the "Great Green Fleet" aircraft carrier strike group demonstration – the largest single delivery of biofuel to the US Navy. Additionally, Phillips supplied the fuel for the first US commercial biofuel flight, United Airlines Flight 1403, from Houston to Chicago.
In 2014, he pioneered the distribution of 100% renewable diesel to corporate fleets which was highlighted in UPS's 2014 Corporate Sustainability Report. Next, Phillips established Backcourt Fuels and independently obtained over $5M in federal and state incentives for renewable fuels projects. Recently, he earned an MBA from Rice University. His passion for VLS stems from his first days as a 1L on the Ultimate Frisbee field. Post VLS graduation and while on his honeymoon, Phillips and his wife, Christie, attended a Pat Parenteau lecture during Vermont Law School's summer program. In 2013, he wrote a letter to the VLS Dean suggesting the creation of the Alumni in Energy affinity group and has been actively involved with the group, serving as chairman since its inception.