Verenium Announces First Commercial Cellulosic Ethan...( - Large-scale cellulosic ethanol faci...)

- Large-scale cellulosic ethanol facility in Florida to serve as model for future plants -

- "Farm to Fuel" grant provides State support to project -

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Jan. 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Verenium Corporation (Nasdaq: VRNM), a pioneer in the development of next-generation cellulosic ethanol and high-performance specialty enzymes, today announced plans to build its first commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol facility in Highlands County, Florida. The Company has entered into long-term agreements with Lykes Bros. Inc., a multi-generation Florida agri-business to provide the agricultural biomass for conversion to fuel. Verenium also announced that the Highlands Ethanol project has been awarded a $7 million grant as part of Florida's "Farm to Fuel" initiative. These announcements will be discussed today at a press briefing at the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services in Tallahassee, Florida.

Verenium's planned commercial facility will be the first in the State of Florida to use next-generation cellulosic ethanol technology to convert renewable grasses to fuel, rather than processing food crops. The plant will be constructed on fallow land, and is expected to produce up to 36 million gallons of cellulosic ethanol per year and provide the region with about 140 full-time jobs, once commercial operations begin. Verenium anticipates breaking ground on this facility in the second half of this year, and expects to start producing fuel in 2011. Additional jobs will be created during the 18-to-24 months of construction on the plant, which is estimated to cost between $250 and $300 million to build. Verenium recently received a special use permit from Highlands County for this facility, located in South Central Florida, and is in the process of finalizing other necessary permit applications.