Alico Tapped by DOE for Biorefinery Development Grant as Part of Bush's Twenty in Ten Initiative

Energy Resource, March 2, 2007

ENERGY RESOURCE-2 March 2007-Alico Tapped by DOE for Biorefinery Development Grant as Part of Bush's Twenty in Ten Initiative(C)2007 JeraOne - http://www.jeraone.com

Land management company Alico Inc. has been selected by the U.S. Department of Energy for a biorefinery development grant that could total up to $33 million.

Alico was one of six companies selected for DOE grants. Negotiations between the selected companies and the DOE will begin immediately to determine terms, conditions and possible funding levels. Representing Alico at the award ceremony was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer John R. Alexander.

The announcement is one part of the Bush Administration's plan to support commercialization of scientific breakthroughs on biofuels that support the goals of the Twenty in Ten Initiative, which aims to increase the use of renewable and alternative fuels in the transportation sector to the equivalent of 35 billion gallons of ethanol a year by 2017.

Funding for the projects is an integral part of the President's Biofuels Initiative that will lead to the wide-scale use of non-food based biomass, such as agricultural waste, trees, forest residues, and perennial grasses in the production of transportation fuels, electricity, and other products.

The solicitation, announced a year ago, was initially for three biorefineries and $160 million. However, in an effort to expedite the goals of President Bush's Advanced Energy Initiative and help achieve the goals of his Twenty in Ten Initiative, the funding ceiling has been raised.

Alico has spent the past two years investigating the use of gasification/fermentation technology developed by Bioengineering Resources Inc. (BRI) of Fayetteville, Arkansas. Dr. Jim Gaddy, the founder of BRI, has spent 18 years developing this process and another six years proving it in a pilot plant. BRI's process converts any carbon-based material into ethanol and electricity.

"On behalf of Alico, I would like to thank the Department of Energy for this opportunity. I look forward to the day that Florida, which ranks first in the United States in biomass production, is also a major producer of renewable energy for automobiles and electric plants," said Alexander.

"As a company, we are continuing our investigation of the potential of cellulosic ethanol as a business opportunity, and these government sponsored grants, if received under acceptable terms and conditions, will be part of that consideration," Alexander said, adding, "In order to move forward our Board of Directors will address whether it is in our shareholders best interests. "

Last week the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and the Florida Department of Energy announced they had selected Alico to receive a grant of $2.5 million to help develop a plant to utilize farm-to-fuel technology.

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