BioFuels Journal

Verenium Awarded $5.4 Million Grant From New Zealand Foundation for Research, Science and Technology

Cambridge, MA—Verenium Corporation (Nasdaq: VRNM), a pioneer in the development of next-generation cellulosic ethanol and high-performance specialty enzymes, announced on July 24 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."

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