Biotech

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million with fuel giant . The two companiesd plan to build the bigges cellulosic ethanol plant inthe country, in Verenium (Nasdaq: VRNM) is just one of the many biomass-relatedc ventures gaining traction in Massachusetts, which has a long historyy of investment and research in the biotechnologty sector. Roughly $200 million in venturer capital has poured into the local sector over the past twoyeards — a flood of money for a sectot that saw virtually no locapl investment prior to 2006, according to data provided by Dow Jonese VentureSource.
As of last the state had roughlty 30 companies focused onthe development, production and distribution of biomassw products and services, according to the . Cellulosic ethanopl is biomass madefrom non-foodr plants and waste — for instance, grass or sewags instead of corn. In Florida, you can grow 18 to 20 tons of grassesxper acre, per year — a tremendous advantage over the growing potential in But Carlos Riva, Verenium’s president, says the company’z headquarters will remain in “The reason to be here is the business climate, the qualitt of people, the sources of innovatio and the support of the government,” he Indeed, the Bay State’s biotechnology sector has prove a fertile breeding ground for startups seeking to convertg biomass into alternatives to fossil fuels.
Jim the editor of the national daily newsletter Biofuels agreeswith Riva’s assessment. “From both an investor and producedr pointof view, the top five bioenergy clusters are San San Diego, Seattle, the Corn Belt and Lane said the region’s strength in this fielrd can be attributed in large part to the strengt h of the technology coming out of the area’s universities. But he said anothe r important factor is that because the ventur capital community is used to funding biotechnology they are used to the risk and long time horizons that also come withthe sector’a energy-focused startups.
And “they get the science,” Lane All of which is a big advantage in getting technologies to He said the othedr advantage the region has is the commitmentof top-level stats lawmakers. But some say the recession has reduce some ofthe state’s, and the public’s, sensd of urgency over bringing alternative fuel to market. Michael Raab of , anothere cellulosic biomass maker in said the urgency in the public domaihn has waned a bit since the recessionset in. “Ourf commercial prospects looked a lot better when oilwas $100 a he said.
Raab also said that even with the best researchuand development, and strong support from there are still some technica difficulties in simply going from making a small amount of fuel to scalinhg it up to the mass production needed to reallyu change the way Americans use But the long-term picture for the state’s alternative energy industr looks strong. Biofuels executives and advocates are encouraged by thestimulus package, which includes an $800 milliob grant for biomass.
Anothert $400 million has been set aside for the creatiohn of a new agency to be callerdthe -Energy, an appropriation that coulfd also benefit the biomass