DOE 바이오에너지 연구센터 3곳 선정

드디어 DOE에서 펀딩하는 바이오에너지 연구센터 세 곳이 선정되었습니다. 제가 일하는 연구소와 제 보스도 포함이 되어서 아주 좋은 분위기입니다.^^

그 세곳은 다음과 같습니다.

1. BioEnergy Science Center (BESC)

The Oak Ridge National Laboratory,
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, Colo.;
The Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta;
The  University of Georgia, Athens,
The University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

등의 연구기관이 참여하고 Diversa (새 이름은 Verenium), Mascoma 등의 기업이 함께 참여합니다.

2. Great Lakes center

the University of Wisconsin,
Michigan State University, East Lansing;
the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Wash.;
the Lucigen Corporation, Middleton, Wis.;
the University of Florida, Gainesville;
Oak Ridge National Laboratory;
Illinois State University, Normal;
and Iowa State University, Ames

등의 연구기관이 참여한다고 합니다.

3. Joint Bioenergy Institute

the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California,
Sandia National Laboratories;
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory;
the University of California, Berkeley;
the University of California, Davis;

라고 하네요.

각 센터는 앞으로 5년 이내에 새로운 바이오에너지 관련 기술을 개발하는 일을 맡게되며 특별히 cellulosic ethanol, biodiesel 등의 연구를 진행할 것으로 생각됩니다. 각 센터는 매년 2천5백만불 (약 250억)의 지원금을 받는다고 하는군요.
 

좀 더 자세한 뉴욕타임즈의 기사 전문은 아래를 클릭하시길...

 

more..

June 26, 2007

U.S. Is Creating 3 Centers for Research on Biofuels

By MATTHEW L. WALD

WASHINGTON, June 25 — The Energy Department is creating three bioenergy research centers to find new ways to turn plants into fuel.

The three centers, which the department described as three start-up companies with $125 million each in capital, will be in Oak Ridge, Tenn.; Madison, Wis.; and near Berkeley, Calif. They will involve numerous universities, national laboratories and private companies. The goal of the centers, which are to be announced on Tuesday, is to bring new technologies to market within five years.

The new approach supports President Bush’s goal of reducing gasoline consumption by 20 percent in 10 years.

The bioenergy centers will focus on finding naturally occurring microbes that can break down lignin, a component of plants and trees, to give access to the material inside, called cellulose. The cellulose can be converted into ethanol or other liquid fuels, like butanol and biodiesel, said Raymond L. Orbach, the under secretary for science at the Energy Department.

Today, companies trying to commercialize cellulosic ethanol use heat and acids, an expensive process.

They have focused on the cellulose itself, which is made up of six-carbon sugars, the kind that is found in grains that have been turned into fermented products like beer for thousands of years, and of five-carbon sugars, which cannot be fermented by ordinary means. These are bound together tightly, and must be loosened by biological processes.

“There has been tremendous progress,” Dr. Orbach said. “But if you don’t fix the front end, the back end isn’t going be very efficient.”

The centers will also work on creating new crops that produce lignin that is easier to deal with, he said.

Ethanol is increasingly used as a gasoline substitute, but that has driven up the price of corn. “There’s a lot of biomass in our country that has nothing to do with corn or any other food,” Dr. Orbach said in an interview. One such plentiful plant often mentioned is switch grass.

In another area, the department announced Monday that it would help establish laboratories in Texas and Massachusetts to test designs for wind turbine blades up to 300 feet long, about twice the length of blades now in common use. The size of wind turbines in use has tripled in the last five years and could triple again, but this would require blades of lighter materials that are three times the length of the longest blade that can be reliably tested now in this country, said Andrew Karsner, assistant secretary for energy efficiency and renewable energy.

The two announcements are part of a highly public campaign by the Bush administration to stress its commitment to renewable energy.

One of the new bioenergy centers will be led by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, an Energy Department lab in Tennessee. Participants include another lab, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, Colo.; the Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta; the University of Georgia, Athens, and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

A Great Lakes center, in Madison, Wis., will be led by the University of Wisconsin, and will include Michigan State University, East Lansing; the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Wash.; the Lucigen Corporation, Middleton, Wis.; the University of Florida, Gainesville; Oak Ridge National Laboratory; Illinois State University, Normal; and Iowa State University, Ames.

The third, the Joint Bioenergy Institute, will be led by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California, and will include Sandia National Laboratories; Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory; the University of California, Berkeley; the University of California, Davis; and Stanford. Dr. Orbach said that the centers’ geographic diversity would help researchers examine a wide range of plants.

The centers, each to be financed by $25 million a year, are supposed to be fully operational by the fiscal year beginning Sept. 1, 2009.

충격! Diversa가 Biofuel에 올인하여 새 회사로 합병!

Diversa는 누가 뭐래도 이쪽 분야의 leading company중의 하나입니다. 그런데 최근 디버사의 주가가 궁금해서 디버사를 찾아보는데 아무리 찾아도 안나오는 겁니다. 그래서 홈페이지에 가봤더니...
  

Dicersa는 간데없고 베레니움이라는 회사가 떡하니 버티고 있더군요. 그리고 그 한 편에 있는 안내글...

DIVERSA AND CELUNOL HAVE MERGED TO CREATE VERENIUM, A NEW BIOFUELS INDUSTRY LEADER FOR THE GREEN MILLENNIUM

(디버사와 셀루놀은 합병하여 green millennium을 맞이한 새로운 바이오연료 산업리더인 베레니움을 만들었습니다!)

회사의 모토는 "The Nature of Energy" 이군요.

최고로 다양한 효소 스크리닝 및 다양성 확보 기술 보유 바이오텍 기업과 셀룰로스로 에탄올 만드는 기업과의 합병이라... 확실히 고유가 시대를 맞은 미국에서 바이오에탄올 및 바이오연료가 중요해진 모양입니다. 갑자기 Maxygen의 앞날이 궁금해지는 것은 저만이 아니겠지요?

자세한 보도자료는 아래 (http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/070620/law149.html?.v=2)

more..

Press Release

Source: Diversa Corporation

Diversa and Celunol Complete Merger to Create Verenium Corporation, a Leader in the Emerging Biofuels Industry
Wednesday June 20, 8:36 pm ET

Focus on Cellulosic Biofuel Development and Commercialization of Diversified Industrial Enzyme Portfolio Company to Trade on NASDAQ Global Market under the Symbol 'VRNM'

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. and SAN DIEGO, June 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Diversa Corporation (Nasdaq: DVSA - News) and Celunol Corp. announced today that they have completed their previously-announced merger transaction to create a new leader in the global biofuels industry. The combined company, which has been renamed Verenium Corporation, possesses a growing portfolio of specialty enzyme products and unique technical and operational capabilities designed to enable the production of low-cost, biomass-derived sugars for a multitude of major industrial applications. The most significant near-term commercial opportunity for Verenium will be the large-scale commercial production of cellulosic ethanol derived from multiple biomass feedstocks. In connection with the corporate name change, the Company has also changed its NASDAQ ticker symbol from "DVSA" to "VRNM" and will begin trading under the new ticker symbol effective June 21, 2007.

Stockholders of both companies approved the merger and merger-related proposals earlier today, and all regulatory approvals and closing conditions have been satisfied.

"We are pleased that our respective shareholders have approved our merger and believe their support reinforces our belief in the compelling investment proposition afforded by this transaction," said Carlos A. Riva, President and Chief Executive Officer of Verenium. "After several months of diligent integration planning between the two companies, we are excited to become a single organization and are confident that the transaction represents a unique opportunity for our partners, employees, and shareholders."

"Verenium is now positioned to be a vertically-integrated leader in the rapidly-evolving worldwide biofuels industry through the unique combination of assets, technologies, and personnel resulting from this merger. We believe that commercial success in this industry requires broad R&D capabilities and asset development expertise, which we have now brought together within one, highly-focused company, Verenium Corporation."

    Verenium begins operations with numerous unique attributes, including:

    -- Fully-integrated, end-to-end capabilities in pre-treatment, novel
       enzyme development, fermentation, engineering, and project development;
    -- One of the only operational cellulosic ethanol pilot plants in the
       United States;
    -- A 1.4 million gallon-per-year demonstration-scale facility, currently
       under construction, to produce cellulosic ethanol from sugarcane
       bagasse and specially-bred energy cane;
    -- A diverse and growing portfolio of commercialized industrial enzyme
       products; and
    -- Over 300 issued or in-licensed patents for its technologies and
       processes, as well as over 450 pending patents.

Verenium will be structured and managed as three distinct, but interdependent, organizational units: Specialty Enzymes Business Unit, Biofuels Business Unit, and Research and Development. The Specialty Enzymes Business Unit currently generates commercial revenue from multiple sources, including industrial enzyme product sales, technology licenses, strategic partnerships, and government grants. The Biofuels Business Unit will be primary focused on the commercial-scale production and sale of cellulosic ethanol from company-managed production facilities throughout the US, as well as strategic partnerships and related revenue arrangements around the world. The Research and Development organization's primary goal will be to support both Verenium Business Units, as well as various existing strategic collaborative partners. As of March 31, 2007, the Company had cash, cash-equivalents, and short-term investments on hand of approximately $125.5 million, which, together with approximately $20 million received in early April from the exercise of an over-allotment option related to the recent convertible notes offering, it believes to be sufficient to fund operations through at least 2008.

Verenium's Board of Directors will initially consist of nine members, six from Diversa and three from Celunol, including Mr. Riva. The non-employee Board members are: Dr. James Cavanaugh, who will serve as Chairman of the Board of Directors; Peter Johnson; Fernand Kaufmann, Ph.D.; Mark Leschly; Melvin Simon, Ph.D.; Cheryl Wenzinger; Joshua Ruch; and Michael Zak.

The Company's executive management team is being led by Carlos A. Riva, President, Chief Executive Officer, and Director, and John A. McCarthy, Jr., Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.

Verenium will be headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts and have research and operations facilities in San Diego, California; Jennings, Louisiana; and Gainesville, Florida. Due to the complementary nature of the two companies and the level of development activities being pursued, the company anticipates increasing its staff in Cambridge and Jennings, as well as building additional staff over time in San Diego to support the growth of the enzyme business and research and development efforts of the Company.

In connection with the merger, Diversa will issue 15 million shares of common stock in exchange for all outstanding equity securities of Celunol, which includes shares issuable under Celunol options and warrants that will be assumed by the Company. As a result of the merger, former Celunol security holders will own approximately 24 percent of the Company, while Diversa shareholders will own approximately 76 percent. Immediately following the merger, the Company will have approximately 63 million shares outstanding.

About Verenium

Cambridge-based 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.

Verenium recently completed a significant upgrade of one of the nation's first operational cellulosic ethanol pilot facilities located in Jennings, Louisiana and expects to achieve mechanical completion of a 1.4 million gallon-per-year, demonstration-scale facility to produce cellulosic ethanol by the end of 2007. In addition, the Company's process technology has been licensed by Tokyo-based Marubeni Corp. and Tsukishima Kikai Co., LTD and has been incorporated into BioEthanol Japan's 1.4 million liter-per-year cellulosic ethanol plant in Osaka, Japan -- the world's first commercial-scale plant to produce cellulosic ethanol from wood construction waste. For more information on Verenium, visit http://www.verenium.com.

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 competitive advantages and position, technical, operations, production and personnel capabilities, commercial opportunities, prospects for technical and commercial development and success, plans for expanding its cellulosic ethanol business, including by managing production facilities throughout the U.S. and through strategic partnerships and other arrangements elsewhere, and other growth, and the sufficiency of its cash equivalents to fund its operations through 2008. 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 differences include, but are not limited to, the risk that the Company may not be able to successfully integrate its businesses or achieve synergies in a timely manner or to the extent anticipated, the risk that the marketplace for the Company's products and product candidates may change or be impacted by competition, supply issues or marketplace trends, the risk that technical, regulatory or manufacturing issues, new data or intellectual property disputes may affect the Company's commercial and/or development programs or that the Company may encounter other difficulties in developing its products, product candidates, and/or processes or in gaining approval or market acceptance of new products, processes, and/or technologies and risks and other uncertainties more fully described in the Company's (formerly Diversa's) filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including, but not limited to, the Company's (formerly Diversa's) quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2007. 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.

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Source: Diversa Corporation