BIO Supports President Bush’s Commitment to Fund Research and Commercialization of Ethanol from Cellulose

WASHINGTON, D.C. (April 25, 2006) – In remarks on energy and gasoline supplies delivered this morning, President George W. Bush expressed renewed commitment to furthering technology research and commercialization to convert cellulose from energy crops and crop residues – such as wood chips, corn stalks, and switch grass – to ethanol. The Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) applauds the President’s commitment and supports his request for $150 million in the 2007 budget for research in advanced forms of ethanol from cellulose.

“With industrial biotechnology processes that use enzymes to convert crops and crop residues to fermentable sugars, the United States could produce over 70 billion gallons of ethanol a year from cellulose-containing crop residues, such as corn stover and stalks, sugar cane bagasse, wheat straw and rice straw,” said Jim Greenwood, president and CEO of BIO. “These biofuels can be cheaper than gasoline and diesel, saving us about $20 billion per year on fuel costs by 2050.

“As the President pointed out this morning, converting crop residues to transportation fuel has the added benefit of producing billions of dollars in extra income for farmers and rural economies. Ethanol from cellulose is also environmentally friendly, reducing net carbon dioxide emissions. The President’s biofuels initiative can help bring ethanol from cellulose to filling stations throughout the country within a few short years, if we start now to build the biorefineries needed to produce large volumes of this domestically grown fuel,” Greenwood continued.

The following NGO, private sector, academic and government experts are available to the media to explain the industrial biotech process for producing cellulosic ethanol as well as its environmental and economic benefits:

• Jim Greenwood, president & CEO, BIO – (202) 962-9200


• Brent Erickson, executive vice president, Industrial and Environmental Section, BIO


• Reid Detchon, executive director, Energy Future Coalition -- (202) 463-8744
• Nathanael Greene, senior resource specialist, Natural Resources Defense Council – (212) 727-2700


• Jack Huttner, vice president, Genencor International -- (585) 256-5272 (enzymes)


• Brian Foody, CEO, Iogen -- (613) 733-9830 (enzymes and biorefinery production)


• Gerson Santos Leon, CEO, Abengoa Bioenergy -- (636) 728-0508 (biorefinery production)


• Glenn Nedwin, CSO & EVP, Dyadic -- (530) 792-8961 (enzymes)


• Joel Cherry, Director, Novozymes, (530) 757-4991 (enzymes)


• Lee Lynd, associate professor, Thayer School of Engineering, Dartmouth University -- (603) 364-2231


• Bruce Dale, professor, Chemical Engineering Dept., Michigan State University -- (517) 353-6777


• Charles E. Wyman, Ford Motor Company Professor of Chemical & Environmental Engineering, University of California, Riverside – (951) 781-5703


• James Woolsey, Booz Allen Hamilton -- (202) 497-0026
• Doug Kaempf, general engineer, U.S. DOE -- (202) 586-5264


• John Houghton, U.S. DOE Office of Science -- (301) 903-8288

For more information, visit the BIO web site at http://www.bio.org/ind/biofuel/.

BIO represents more than 1,100 biotechnology companies, academic institutions, state biotechnology centers and related organizations across the United States and 31 other nations. BIO members are involved in the research and development of healthcare, agricultural, industrial and environmental biotechnology products.

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