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From: "Tom Catino" <tomcatino716@...>
Date: Sun May 21, 2006  12:58 am
Subject: Converting CO2 into Ethanol Feedstock

 

 

[I am putting this through for responses and analysis from the list: we like to

think we are seeking solutions to climate change-related problems, and this

company claims to be a party to these solutions.  So - are they?  Will their

ideas work? How much of a help might they be?  - your question-asking

moderator.]

 

Veridium Amends License Agreement for Exclusive Rights to CO2

Bioreactor

Tuesday April 18, 9:44 am ET

Technology Enables Cost-effective New Supply of Ethanol Feedstock

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 18, 2006--Veridium Corporation (OTC

Bulletin Board: VRDM - News) today announced its execution of an

amended license agreement with Ohio University ("Ohio") for its

patented bioreactor process for reducing greenhouse gas emissions

from fossil-fuelled combustion processes.

 

Veridium's original license with Ohio provided for non-exclusive

rights to the technology for the purpose of processing exhaust gas

streams from electrical utility power generation facilities, and

exclusive rights to the technology for applications involving all

other sources. The amended license agreement increases the scope of

Veridium's license to provide for exclusivity in all applications,

including electrical utility power generation facilities.

 

Veridium's bioreactor technology is simple, robust and scalable, and

was originally designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from

fossil-fueled combustion processes. The technology is based on a new

strain blue-green algae discovered thriving in a hot stream at

Yellowstone National Park. The algae use the available carbon

dioxide, water and light to grow new algae, giving off pure oxygen

and water vapor in the process. Once the algae grow to maturity,

they fall to the bottom of the bioreactor where the algae can be

harvested for further refining several times per day.

 

A prototype of the technology was built that is capable of handling

140 cubic meters of flue gas per minute, an amount equal to the

exhaust from 50 cars or a 3 megawatt power plant.

 

New Feedstock for Ethanol Production

 

Ethanol is made from starch-based feedstocks. The algae in the

bioreactor convert exhaust carbon dioxide and sunlight into a

biomass that is comprised of about 94% starch and about 6% oil. This

exceeds the starch concentration in corn, the primary feedstock for

domestic ethanol production today, which contains about 63% starch

and 3-4% oil. Even more impressive is that the preliminary test data

show a doubling of the biomass several times per day - a rate much

faster than plants, and it does all of this on a footprint that is

orders of magnitude less than the surface area required for crops.

 

Veridium's immediate focus for this technology is to deploy a

commercial-scale pilot operation while seeking out qualified early

adopters for deployment of the technology in the ethanol industry

and in the traditional power generation industry.

 

"We have been focused on ethanol front for some time now and most of

our current market development focus is on deploying technologies

that enhance production efficiencies for existing ethanol

facilities," said David Winsness, chief executive officer of

Veridium's industrial design division. "Our bioreactor technology is

just one of several such technologies that we plan to roll out this

year."

 

Earlier this year, Veridium filed for patent protection on its

BioStarch Recirculation System(TM) - an implementation of Veridium's

bioreactor technology that routes exhaust carbon dioxide from the

fermentation stage of ethanol production facilities through a

bioreactor that is specifically designed to be integrated with

existing ethanol facilities.

 

"We believe that finding ways to rapidly squeeze more supply out of

the existing production infrastructure is a critically necessary

objective," said Winsness. "In conventional ethanol production,

almost a third of the mass of the corn ends up in the form of

exhaust. Our view is that carbon dioxide exhaust is a valuable

resource that can be used to increase the current output of host

ethanol facilities, and we think that we are going to see

considerably more than 10% gains in production out of existing

ethanol facilities with our patented and patent-pending

technologies."

 

Conversion of Power Plant Exhaust

 

Winsness added: "Demand for ethanol is increasing and we believe

that it will continue to exceed supply for the foreseeable future.

We also believe that the rate of the increasing demand will continue

to outpace the rate of the increasing supply while we wait for new

ethanol facilities to be built. While bringing our technologies to

the ethanol industry remains our primary focus, we are also seeking

out new low-cost and near-term sources of ethanol supply. We believe

that the power generation industry is a perfect candidate for this

given the capabilities of our bioreactor technology and we are

excited to now have the exclusive rights to the underlying

technology."

 

 

*********************************************************************

 

Veridium Technology Converts Exhaust Carbon Dioxide from

Fermentation Stage of Ethanol Facilities into New Ethanol and

Biodiesel

Thursday February 23, 9:25 am ET

 

MOUNT ARLINGTON, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 23, 2006--Veridium

Corporation (OTC Bulletin Board: VRDM - News) today announced its

new patent-pending technology for the conversion of exhaust carbon

dioxide from the fermentation stage of ethanol production facilities

back into new ethanol and biodiesel.

 

Earlier this year, Veridium announced its patented bioreactor

process for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from fossil-fuelled

combustion processes. The new technology is simple, robust and

scalable, and was designed to stimulate additional revenues for

power plant operators while decreasing plant emissions. Veridium's

bioreactor is based on a new strain iron-loving blue-green algae

discovered thriving in a hot stream at Yellowstone National Park.

The algae use the available carbon dioxide and water to grow new

algae, giving off pure oxygen and water vapor in the process. Once

the algae grow to maturity, they fall to the bottom of the

bioreactor where the algae can be harvested for other uses several

times per day. One such use is conversion into clean fuels such as

ethanol and biodiesel.

 

Ethanol is made from starch-based feedstocks and biodiesel is made

from animal fats and vegetable oils. Corn, the primary feedstock for

ethanol production today, contains about 66% starch and 3-4% oil.

 

Veridium's new BioStarch Recirculation System(TM) routes exhaust

carbon dioxide from the fermentation stage of the ethanol production

process through Veridium's bioreactor where it is consumed by algae

that are comprised of about 94% starch and about 6% oil.

 

"The algae convert exhaust carbon dioxide and sunlight into

biomass," said David Winsness, chief executive officer of Veridium's

industrial design division. "This biomass is a very efficient

feedstock for ethanol production and is itself a concentrated source

of the primary ingredient of ethanol. It doubles in mass several

times per day - a rate much faster than plants, and it does all of

this on a footprint that is orders of magnitude less than the

surface area required for crops. That said, this technology is by no

means a replacement for crops. Traditional ethanol feedstocks are

still required to generate the quantities of carbon dioxide needed

to make our bioreactor effective."

 

Kevin Kreisler, Veridium's chairman, added that: "this is about

enhancing the efficiency of our domestic ethanol production

infrastructure and doing it as quickly as possible. Our goal here

was to increase ethanol production and plant profitability on

reduced capital and operating cost by using as much as possible of

the plant's existing infrastructure. We believe that we were

successful in doing so here and that appreciable gains in ethanol

production are probable. We are actively seeking an early adopter of

the technology for our first deployment to prove out our projected

gains."

 

Veridium has already made significant gains in profitability

possible for ethanol producers with its patent-pending Corn Oil

Extraction Systems(TM) by extracting corn oil, which is an excellent

biodiesel feedstock, from an ethanol production by-product called

distillers dried grain.

 

The 6% oil contained in the algae used in Veridium's new BioStarch

Recirculation System(TM) is also expected to further increase the

production of oil from Veridium's Corn Oil Extraction System(TM).

This results in the production of increased volumes of high grade

biodiesel feedstocks from each host ethanol facility, increased

profitability for host ethanol facilities, and increased revenues

for Veridium.

 

About Veridium's Corn Oil Extraction System(TM)

 

Currently, the majority of ethanol production is based on a dry

milling technique that utilizes more than 1 billion bushels of corn

to produce 3 billion gallons per year of ethanol (Fuel #1). The dry

mill process converts the starch from the kernel of corn into sugar

and then the sugar into ethanol. The balance of the corn (non-starch

components) then goes through a dewatering and dehydration process

where the byproduct is sold as a commercial feed ingredient called

distillers dried grain ("DDG"). DDG contains the majority of the

corn oil that was present in the kernel. Today, the 1 billion

bushels of corn currently used in the dry mill ethanol process

contain roughly 300 million gallons of corn oil that is currently

sold for about $0.03 per pound as commercial feed. The new Veridium

technology presents another option - cost effective conversion into

Biodiesel (Fuel #2).

 

Veridium's Corn Oil Extraction System(TM) offers the following

compelling benefits for ethanol producers:

 

Low Operating Costs - the system requires less than $0.05 per gallon

of corn oil produced;

High Recovery Rates - the technology is capable of recovering up to

75% of the corn oil within the DDG;

Increased Revenue - the corn oil extracted with Veridium's

technology is readily amenable to refining into biodiesel fuel which

creates a new revenue stream for participating ethanol facilities;

Reduces Current Operating Costs and Emissions - Veridium's

technology improves the drying efficiency of the DDG which in turn

reduces overall plant operating costs and emissions; and,

Low Capital Cost - Veridium's oil extraction methods have a capital

cost of less than 15% of traditional corn oil extraction methods.

Pictures and video of the new Veridium technology are available

online at www.meangreenbiofuels.com - this system is in use today

and efficiently recovers corn oil from concentrated thin stillage.

 

 

*********************************************************************

Veridium Technology Sequesters Exhaust Carbon Dioxide

Monday January 30, 10:58 am ET

 

MOUNT ARLINGTON, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 30, 2006--Veridium

Corporation (OTC Bulletin Board: VRDM - News) today announced its

patented bioreactor process for reducing greenhouse gas emissions

from fossil-fueled combustion processes. The new technology is

simple, robust and scalable, and is capable of stimulating

additional revenues for power plant operators while decreasing plant

emissions.

 

Carbon Dioxide BioReactor

 

Veridium's patented process reduces greenhouse gas emissions from

fossil-fueled combustion processes such as power plants in a way

that leverages nature's own solution: photosynthesis. Industrial

quantities of carbon dioxide require industrial amounts of

photosynthetic activity, and power plant emissions, which are called

flue gases, average temperatures in excess of a very hot 55 degrees

Celsius (131 degrees Fahrenheit). Veridium's bioreactor is based on

a new strain iron-loving blue-green algae discovered thriving in a

hot stream at Yellowstone National Park. The algae use the available

carbon dioxide and water to grow new algae, giving off pure oxygen

and water vapor in the process. The organisms also absorb nitrogen

oxide and sulfur dioxide, which contribute to acid rain. Once the

algae grow to maturity, they fall to the bottom of the bioreactor

and are harvested for other uses.

 

A prototype of the technology was built that is capable of handling

140 cubic meters of flue gas per minute, an amount equal to the

exhaust from 50 cars or a 3 megawatt power plant.

 

Veridium acquired the rights to the technology, which was developed

by Dr. David Bayless of Ohio University, in its recently acquisition

of GreenShift Industrial Design Corporation. The license agreement

with Ohio provides for non-exclusive rights to the technology for

the purpose of air pollution control of exhaust gas streams from

electrical utility power generation facilities, and exclusive rights

to the technology for the air pollution control of exhaust gas

streams from all other sources, including mobile sources, and to

process carbon-containing compounds from any other source.

 

"Nature has developed solutions to many of the environmental

challenges we face today," said Kevin Kreisler, Veridium

Corporation's chairman and chief executive officer. "Dr. Bayless and

his associates have tapped these natural solutions and developed

what we feel is a very important and timely technology."

 

About Veridium Corporation

 

Veridium Corporation (OTC Bulletin Board: VRDM - News) is a publicly

traded industrial waste recycling company and holds the rights to

more than a dozen proprietary universal processing, water

purification, emissions control and waste recycling technologies.

 

Veridium's business model is based on the engineering and marketing

of green innovations and processes that enhance manufacturing

efficiencies, improve resource utilization and minimize waste.

Veridium's mission is to deliver consumer oriented Natural Solutions

(TM) based on an array of green technologies and applied engineering

expertise that reduce waste at the source and make it easier for

people and businesses to recycle and reuse resources. Veridium plans

to focus on the continued acquisition, development and marketing of

benchmark green technologies and products that accomplish the

following key goals:

 

Reduce the volume of waste generated by residential and commercial

consumers;

Increase the convenience and decrease the cost of recycling by

residential and commercial consumers; and,

Increase the cost-efficiency of processing certain types of

industrial wastes.

Veridium is about 65% owned by GreenShift Corporation (OTC Bulletin

Board: GSHF - News), a publicly traded business development company

(BDC) whose mission is to develop and support companies and

technologies that facilitate the efficient use of natural resources

and catalyze transformational environmental gains.