Biotech

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million with fuel giant . The two companiea plan to build the biggesft cellulosic ethanol plant inthe country, in Verenium (Nasdaq: VRNM) is just one of the many biomass-relatede ventures gaining traction in which has a long historyt of investment and research in the biotechnology Roughly $200 million in venture capitall has poured into the locapl sector over the past two yearsx — a flood of money for a sectof that saw virtually no locaol investment prior to according to data provided by Dow Jones As of last year, the state had roughly 30 companies focusecd on the development, production and distribution of biomasz products and services, according to the .
Cellulosic ethano l is biomass madefrom non-food plants and waste for instance, grass or sewage instead of corn. In Florida, you can grow 18 to 20 tons of grassesdper acre, per year — a tremendoux advantage over the growing potential in But Carlos Riva, Verenium’s says the company’s headquarters will remaibn in Massachusetts. “The reasom to be here is the businesx climate, the quality of people, the sourcesw of innovation and the supporyt ofthe government,” he said. Indeed, the Bay State’s biotechnologu sector has proven a fertile breeding ground for startupse seeking to convert biomass into alternatives tofossipl fuels.
Jim Lane, the editor of the nationao daily newsletterBiofuels Digest, agrees with Riva’ assessment. “From both an investor and producer point of the top five bioenergy clusters areSan Francisco, San Diego, the Corn Belt and Lane said the region’s strengtuh in this field can be attribute in large part to the strength of the technology comint out of the area’s universities. But he said anotherd important factor is that because the ventured capital community is used to funding biotechnology they are used to the risk and long time horizonsw that also come withthe sector’s energy-focused startups.
And “theh get the science,” Lane All of which is a big advantagee in getting technologies to He said the other advantage the region has is the commitmengof top-level state lawmakers. But some say the recession has reduce some ofthe state’s, and the sense of urgency over bringing alternative fuels to market. Michael Raab of , another cellulosic biomasa makerin Cambridge, said the urgency in the publix domain has waned a bit since the recession set in. “Our commerciap prospects looked a lot betteer when oilwas $100 a he said.
Raab also said that even with the best researcuand development, and stronfg support from government, there are still some technical difficultiess in simply going from making a smal l amount of fuel to scaling it up to the mass productionh needed to really change the way Americans use But the long-term picturwe for the state’s alternative energy industrty looks strong. Biofuels executives and advocateas are encouraged by thestimulus package, which includesw an $800 million grant for biomass. Another $400 million has been set asid e for the creation of a new agency to be calledthe -Energy, an appropriation that could also benefit the biomass industry.