- Grant will fund optimization and pilot-scale evaluation of pre-treatment and enzymatic processing technologies to make cellulosic ethanol from wood - CAMBRIDGE, Mass., July 24
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., July 24 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Verenium Corporation
(Nasdaq: VRNM), a pioneer in the development of next-generation cellulosic
ethanol and high-performance specialty enzymes, today announced that the
Company, together with research partner Scion, have been awarded a three-year,
$5.4 million grant from the New Zealand Foundation for Research, Science and
Technology. Funding is expected to start in October and will be used for the
next stage of development by the New Zealand Lignocellulosic Bioethanol
Initiative, a trans-Pacific research collaboration.
"We are very pleased to be recognized with this award, as we continue to
advance our efforts in the development of next-generation cellulosic ethanol,"
said Carlos A. Riva, President and Chief Executive Officer at Verenium. "This
grant represents an important endorsement of our research collaboration with
Scion. Together with our recent awards from the U.S. Department of Energy,
this grant adds support to our scientific efforts to advance the development
of this rapidly-emerging global industry."
This initiative builds from previous collaborative research among
Verenium, New Zealand's Crown Research Institutes Scion and AgResearch, and
New Zealand's largest pulp and paper producer, Carter Holt Harvey, which
recently announced the completion of a study which evaluated the
infrastructure, technology and economics of a transportation biofuels facility
using New Zealand softwood plantation forests as a potential feedstock. With
this award, the collaboration will further evaluate the viability of producing
cellulosic ethanol from New Zealand's softwood forest resource through
successful pilot-scale trials of existing lab-scale research on pre-treatment
and enzymatic processing. Verenium will be bringing their enzyme and
fermentation technologies to this program and will be leveraging the Company's
existing facilities to accelerate commercialization timelines.
Scion Chief Executive Dr. Tom Richardson said the successful research
grant is critical to the continuing assessment of the role that domestically-
produced biofuels will play in New Zealand's future energy supply. "New
Zealand's aspirations for transport emissions reduction and sustainable
economic development can only be achieved if global technology leaders like
Verenium, local firms and domestic policy development are brought together. We
are pleased that the Foundation has supported this scale-up program and look
forward to the evaluations."
About Cellulosic Ethanol
Cellulosic ethanol is a renewable fuel source produced from biomass-
derived products such as sugarcane waste (bagasse), switchgrass, rice straw
and wood chips. Cellulose, a long-chain polysaccharide found in nearly all
plant life, is the most abundant molecule on earth, and, according to the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), its high-oxygen content reduces carbon
monoxide better than any other oxygenated chemical compounds.
Next-generation cellulosic ethanol uses advanced biological science to
reduce the cost of ethanol production and enable access to a wide variety of
biomass. Unlike traditional ethanol manufactured from corn or sugar,
cellulosic ethanol production utilizes non-food, plant biomass as its
feedstock source. The biomass is first broken down into fermentable sugars
using acid or enzymatic hydrolysis and industrial enzymes, after which the
sugars are fermented into ethanol using various fermentation organisms.
Ethanol produced from cellulosic biomass is believed to have many benefits
over first-generation ethanol including, the use of non-food feedstock,
substantially greater yield of ethanol per acre of feedstock, minimal exposure
to volatile commodity price risks across the production process and a more
favorable environmental impact.
The production of cellulosic ethanol in the United States is supported by
the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, which mandates that advanced
biofuel production consist of 21 billion gallons by 2022, of which 16 billion
gallons must come from cellulosic ethanol.
About Verenium
Verenium Corporation is a leader in the development and commercialization
of cellulosic ethanol, an environmentally-friendly and renewable
transportation fuel, as well as high-performance specialty enzymes for
applications within the biofuels, industrial, and health and nutrition
markets. The Company possesses integrated, end-to-end capabilities in pre-
treatment, novel enzyme development, fermentation, engineering, and project
development and is moving rapidly to commercialize its proprietary technology
for the production of ethanol from a wide array of feedstocks, including
sugarcane bagasse, dedicated energy crops, agricultural waste, and wood
products. In addition to the vast potential for biofuels, a multitude of
large-scale industrial opportunities exist for the Company for products
derived from the production of low-cost, biomass-derived sugars.
Verenium's Specialty Enzyme business harnesses the power of enzymes to
create a broad range of specialty products to meet high-value commercial
needs. Verenium's world class R&D organization is renowned for its
capabilities in the rapid screening, identification, and expression of
enzymes-proteins that act as the catalysts of biochemical reactions. For more
information on Verenium, visit http://www.verenium.com.
About Scion and the New Zealand Lignocellulosic Bioethanol Initiative
Scion is one of New Zealand's nine Crown Research Institutes (CRI) and is
dedicated to building a stronger bio-based economy for New Zealand. Scion's
vision is to advance the widespread utilization of renewable materials and
products derived from plant-based resources for economic, environmental and
social returns.
The New Zealand Lignocellulosic Bioethanol Initiative is a trans-Pacific
collaboration between two New Zealand CRIs Scion and AgResearch, New Zealand's
largest pulp and paper company Carter Holt Harvey and Verenium. It came
together with the objective of addressing the challenges of using pine as a
feedstock for bioethanol production. The initiative has been active since May
2006.
Forward Looking Statements
Statements in this press release that are not strictly historical are
"forward-looking" and involve a high degree of risk and uncertainty. These
include statements related to the Company's operations, capabilities,
commercialization activities, target markets and cellulosic ethanol
facilities, all of which are prospective. Such statements are only
predictions, and actual events or results may differ materially from those
projected in such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or
contribute to the differences include, but are not limited to, risks
associated with Verenium's new and uncertain technologies, risks associated
with the costs, labor requirements and labor availability associated with
Verenium's demonstration plant, risks associated with Verenium's ability to
obtain additional capital to support its planned operations, risks associated
with Verenium's dependence on patents and proprietary rights, risks associated
with Verenium's protection and enforcement of its patents and proprietary
rights, technological, regulatory, competitive and other risks related to
development, production, and commercialization of cellulosic ethanol and other
biofuels and the commercial prospects of those industries, Verenium's
dependence on existing collaboration, manufacturing, and/or license
agreements, and its ability to achieve milestones under existing and future
collaboration agreements, the ability of Verenium and its partners to
commercialize products (including by obtaining any required regulatory
approvals) using Verenium's technologies and timing for launching any
commercialized products, the ability of Verenium and its collaborators to
market and sell any products that it or they commercialize, the development or
availability of competitive products or technologies, the future ability of
Verenium to enter into and/or maintain collaboration and joint venture
agreements and licenses, changes in the U.S. or global energy markets and
risks and other uncertainties more fully described in the Company's filings
with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including, but not limited to,
the Company's quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the three months ended March
31, 2008. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof.
The Company expressly disclaims any intent or obligation to update these
forward-looking statements.
Contacts:
Kelly Lindenboom Sarah Carmody
Vice President,Sr. Corporate Communications
Corporate Communications Associate
617-674-5335 617-674-5357
kelly.lindenboom@verenium.com sarah.carmody@verenium.com
SOURCE Verenium Corporation
