Federal Funding Awarded To SunEthanol's Q Microbe Technology for Making Ethanol from Plant Material

Business Wire, Feb 4, 2008

U.S. Department of Energy recognizes potential as one of only four small-scale biorefinery projects funded

AMHERST, Mass. -- SunEthanol's Q Microbe technology is advancing with federal funding as one of only four small-scale biorefinery projects in the country that have just received the support of the U.S. Department of Energy.

Building on private investment, the DOE grant announced Jan. 29, bumps up the day that the Q Microbe can help power American cars with low-carbon, clean-burning liquid fuel from our nation's farms and sustainably harvested lands.

"Cellulosic ethanol is clearly the wave of the future, and we're very excited about this added boost from the government because it will help our technology get to market faster, lower CO2 output and increase our nation's energy security," said Jef Sharp, CEO of SunEthanol (www.sunethanol.com).

The DOE will invest up to $114 million over four years in the four small-scale biorefinery projects, with the goal of making cellulosic ethanol cost-competitive in five years.

Private investors are following SunEthanol closely, as well. The firm has attracted equity investments from Battery Ventures, LongRiver Ventures and "...VeraSun Energy, one of the nation's biggest producers of ethanol derived from corn and used as motor fuel," noted a recent feature in the Washington Post business section. "Now SunEthanol is racing to gear up for commercial production of the microbe so it can move...into giant vats." (Washington Post, "In Microbe, Vast Power For Biofuel: Organism's Ability To Turn Plant Fibers To Ethanol Captures Investors' Attention," Oct. 18, 2007).

SunEthanol's patented Q Microbe technology is based on a microbe discovered near the shores of the Quabbin Reservoir, close to Amherst, MA., by Dr. Susan Leschine and her research team at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. The Q Microbe is naturally able to convert many different forms of plant material (biomass), including cellulose, and produces far more ethanol than other microbes, with fewer byproducts.

To commercialize the technology, SunEthanol is working with ICM Inc. of Colwich, Kansas, which has engineered more than 80 ethanol plants in North America. As part of the project, ICM and SunEthanol will investgate the use of the Q Microbe to make ethanol from a variety of feedstocks, including corn fiber, switchgrass, corn stover, and sorghum, at a pilot biorefinery constructed next to an existing 50-million-gallon ethanol plant in St. Joseph, Mo. Much of the necessary infrastructure (road, rail, water, electrical, utility, and wastewater treatment) already exists at the site, eliminating significant capital expense. This initiative will track toward meeting the 2007 energy bill's 21 billion gallon alternative fuels mandate.

Other collaborators in the effort besides SunEthanol and ICM include Ceres, Inc.; Edenspace Systems Corporation; South Dakota State University; AGCO Corporation; DOE-National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL); USDA-ARS National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research (NCAUR); Novozymes; and VeraSun Energy Corporation.

Other small-scale biorefinery funding recipients funded include: Lignol Innovations, Inc.; Pacific Ethanol, Inc.; and Stora Enso, North America. Six commercial-scale projects and three "bio-energy centers" at federal laboratories also received DOE funding in the round announced Jan. 29 by DOE. A second round of funding may take place in the spring, DOE Secretary Samuel Bodman said in keynote remarks at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Biofuels Dialogue series where the grants were announced.