(Denver, CO, 28 October 2008) - At the 21st NREL Industry Growth Forum in Denver, Colorado, Edenspace Systems Corporation today announced the award of a two-year, Phase II STTR grant from the U.S. Department of Energy. Under the grant, Edenspace will develop the use of ensilement to reduce the costs of processing plant biomass into renewable biofuels such as cellulosic ethanol. Edenspace is teamed with DOE's Idaho National Laboratory on the project.

Production of ethanol and butanol from lignocellulosic biomass is widely seen as necessary to meet the surging demand for renewable transportation fuels. Today's high cost of biomass pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis, however, makes biomass-derived fuels too expensive. Edenspace seeks to improve the quality of ensiled biomass so as to reduce downstream pretreatment and hydrolysis costs. Ensilement is a storage technique used today to create silage for livestock. Past research has demonstrated that adding cellulases and other enzymes to ensiled biomass can increase sugar content and digestibility, thereby improving feed quality. By engineering energy crops to produce such enzymes in plant leaves and stems, and activating the enzymes during ensilement, a substantial reduction is believed possible in the cost of pretreatment and supplemental enzymes for non-food biofuels.

Edenspace is developing enhanced varieties of corn, sorghum, switchgrass, and other crops to enhance their energy performance by incorporating genes that express cellulases, thereby reducing the cost of producing biofuels from non-food plant biomass. When activated after harvest, biodegradable endoplant cellulases "unzip" cellulose in plant leaves and stems into simple sugars such as glucose that can be fermented into ethanol, butanol or other biofuels. Producing enzymes in the plants themselves, rather than in microbial bioreactors, is expected to substantially reduce downstream costs. Integrating high-efficiency endoplant enzyme crops with new techniques for storage, transportation and processing is projected to double per-acre ethanol yields, reduce the cost of cellulosic ethanol by 20%, increase farm income per acre by 25%, and relax pressures on farmland availability and water use.

About Edenspace. Headquartered in Junction City, Kansas, Edenspace is a commercial leader in developing improved crops for production of biofuels from non-food agricultural residues and dedicated energy crops. The company seeks to reduce today's high costs of capital equipment, materials, energy, and disposal required to produce cellulosic biofuels, as well as reduce CO₂ emissions and pollution from fossil fuels, increase energy independence, and raise rural and farm incomes. The company has entered into key development agreements with the U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory, DOE, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Kansas State University, Michigan State University, Oklahoma State University, and the leading ethanol design/build firm, ICM, Inc. The company received the Environmental Business Journal's 2004 Technology Award and the DaimlerChrysler 1999 Environmental Excellence award. With expertise in plant biotechnology, agronomy, and environmental science, Edenspace is developing innovative, sustainable technologies to meet energy needs, improve human health, and protect the environment.