8. July 2008 by Mykel Pereira.

Novomer, Inc.

South Hill Business Campus
950 Danby Road
Suite 198
Ithaca, NY 14850
Phone: 607.330.2321
Fax: 607.330.4813
info@novomer.com

About
Novomer is a new materials company pioneering a family of competitively priced high-performance green plastics, polymers and other chemicals. With proprietary catalytic technology and a world-class scientific team, Novomer’s groundbreaking technology allows carbon dioxide and other renewable materials to be cost-effectively transformed into polymers, plastics and other chemicals for a wide variety of industrial markets.

Other environmentally friendly materials utilize expensive, limited, food feedstocks and costly biological production processes. Novomer uses carbon dioxide as a major input in a competitively priced, precision-quality, chemical process that produces a class of uniform polymers, plastics and other chemicals. Novomer is building the partnerships to turn these exciting materials into environmentally friendly, green materials to extend the power of chemistry beyond the petroleum era.

Technology

Catalysis is Novomer’s scientific engine. It enables the reactions of stable molecules with other molecular building blocks to produce new polymers and fine chemicals. “A catalyst is like a matchmaker who makes a marriage and then can go off and make other marriages,” explains founding scientist Geoff Coates. Although he jokes that their catalyst systems make use of “zinc-based pixie dust,” these patented systems are highly calibrated. They are scalable and tunable. Novomer can target their reaction outcomes precisely and tailor their new materials for desired characteristics.

Their feedstocks are simple, readily abundant, and inexpensive. They concentrate on using CO and CO₂ as carbon feedstocks and have been successful in creating a growing family of new materials.

Their catalysts are highly selective and efficient, and the reactions they accelerate take place at lower temperatures and lower pressures than other catalysts. Their catalytic systems reduce chemical waste, energy requirements, capital investment, and operating costs.

Applications under development include CO₂ co-polymers such as NB-180 and catalysts for epoxide carbonylation.

Product

Novomer is bringing multiple products to market based on their platform of CO2 and CO catalysis technology. As their first commercial product NB-180 utilizes CO2 feedstocks to produce an ultra-performance material for specific high-tech markets.

Through cutting-edge green chemistry initiated at Cornell University, Novomer’s first product NB-180 has been developed specifically for high performance industrial and commercial applications requiring a binder that decomposes rapidly, cleanly and is environmentally friendly.

NB-180 is an amorphous, colorless thermoplastic polymer (polypropylene carbonate) which decomposes into environmentally benign products making it the perfect solution for broad applications in the electronics, brazing and ceramics industries.

Due to a recently-patented catalytic process, NB-180 binders burn more uniformly and at lower temperatures than currently available sacrificial binders. Thus shorter binder burnout times and higher precision results in multiple applications can be achieved simultaneously.

NB-180 also produces extremely low ash residue by burning significantly cleaner than any current binders. Because of this negligible contamination, NB-180 is the preferred sacrificial material in the precise assembly of micro and nano-scale devices. Using NB-180 will decrease residues and defect rates as well as increase precision and strength during sintering processes.

Their highly efficient catalytic systems are tunable so NB-180 can be tailored to specific application needs. In addition, NB-180 dissolves in a variety of solutions in a broad range of viscosities to allow maximum flexibility.

From the start, NB-180 was formulated to be an invaluable tool for the creation of higher quality products at lower costs to meet the changing demands of end customers.

Posted in New York, Chemistry Techs, USA | No Comments »

8. July 2008 by Mykel Pereira.

Amyris Biotechnologies, Inc.

5980 Horton Street, Ste. 350
Emeryville, CA 94608
(510) 450-0761

About

Amyris Biotechnologies is translating the promise of synthetic biology into solutions for real-world problems. Building on advances in molecular, cell and systems biology, they are engineering microbes capable of producing high-value compounds to address major global health and energy challenges. They are employing these living chemical factories to produce novel pharmaceuticals, renewable fuels, and specialty chemicals.

Amyris Biotechnologies is dedicated to improving the world by leveraging breakthroughs in synthetic biology. Amyris’ technology is able to provide a consistent, cost-effective supply of biofuels and other high-value natural compounds, including pharmaceuticals, fine chemicals, and nutraceuticals.

Amyris is currently focused on two major projects:

* The production of the drug artemisinin to fight malaria in developing countries

* The production of renewable biofuels to help reduce global warming

Technology

Amyris uses engineered microbes and rapid enzymatic pathway construction techniques to build microorganisms capable of producing high-value compounds, from renewable biofuels to pharmaceuticals.

Amyris’ platform technology is based on a modular design of metabolic pathways. One example of this approach was developed at the University of California, Berkeley, in the laboratory of Professor Jay Keasling and published in July 2003 in Nature Biotechnology.

Synthetic biology is a new scientific discipline that involves the design and construction of new biological parts or systems, as well as the re-design of existing biological systems, for specific applications. This new discipline takes the knowledge gained from the analysis of existing biological systems and applies it to the construction of new ones.

Amyris is using synthetic biology techniques to build biological solutions to important global problems.  They focus on creating new metabolic pathways in microbes, essentially re-programming them to function as living factories for the environmentally-friendly production of high-value chemicals. Their first project converts a microbe known for its ability to make copious amounts of alcohol, such as yeast, into a chemical factory for a proven anti-malarial drug. Their second project is the development of a fermentation process that uses custom-designed microbes to renewably produce second-generation, high-performance biofuels that are cost-effective and compatible with current automotive and distribution technologies.

Posted in California, Chemistry Techs, USA | No Comments »

8. July 2008 by Mykel Pereira.

Genomatica

5405 Morehouse Drive,
Ste 210
San Diego, CA 92121
858 -824-1771 phone
858-824-1772 fax
info @ genomatica.com
Genomatica is a San Diego-based chemical company that, through biotechnology, develops and commercializes innovative bio-manufacturing processes for the sustainable production of high value chemical products. The company was founded in July 2000 by Christophe Schilling and Bernhard Palsson, two preeminent leaders in bioengineering, and is led by CEO Christopher Gann, a former Dow Chemical senior executive with over 25 years experience.

Genomatica’s robust collection of integrated technologies has been key to establishing the company as the true pioneer in the field of chemical bio-manufacturing. Some of these technologies include:

* Silicon Lab:
o SimPheny: Proprietary award-winning constraint-based metabolic modeling and simulation system
o Metabolic Model Development: The industry’s preeminent collection of predictive models of microbial metabolism and automated systems that facilitate rapid model development.
o OptKnock Strain Design: powerful proprietary algorithms to couple the production of desired chemical products and growth for highly productive, stable biocatalysts.
o Bio-Pathway Predictor: High throughput system for determining all possible biological and chemical transformation routes to a desired chemical product.
o C Flux Analysis: Isotopic labeling analysis and the most accurate computation of internal flux distributions for large scale metabolic networks.
* Wet Lab:
o Enhanced Evolutionary Engineering: Patented adaptive evolution of microbes to allow for rapid self-optimization for process conditions.
o High-Throughput Fermentation: Hundreds of small-scale fermentations per day.

Technology

Genomatica possesses a disruptive, proprietary, integrated suite of computational and experimental technologies to design, create, and refine novel high-producing organisms and bioprocesses. Genomatica is truly forging new ways to transform living cells into producers of valuable chemical products. The bioprocesses enabled by these live organisms offer breakthrough cost advantages; they are developed in significantly reduced timelines, and offer a sustainable substitute for current petroleum-based chemicals. Their development does not rely on serendipity to succeed.

The company selects target chemicals for development and manufacture based on current and expected market size, ease of substitution, partner needs, simplicity of biological pathway, and a host of other proprietary criteria.

Genomatica strives to be the best in the world at:

• Rapidly designing and assessing technical feasibility of producing any chemical via biological systems. We enable bio-manufactured chemical technology.
• Engineering and evolving the highest performing organisms possible with viable alternate feedstocks. We lead the conversion of existing hydrocarbon based chemical production towards bio-manufacturing.
• Enabling carbohydrates to sustainably displace hydrocarbon based feedstocks in chemical manufacturing through process research .

To facilitate this process, Genomatica has developed the world’s most sophisticated fully-integrated metabolic engineering platform, including:

• Computational Modeling & Automated Pathway Design– Proprietary simulation technology and models of metabolism to exhaustively explore design possibilities for our conversion technologies. We have dramatically expedited rational design.
• Evolutionary Engineering – The patented use of models together with adaptive evolution of living cells to enhance properties and characteristics of natural and engineered organisms.
• Integration of Computational and Experimental R&D Processes – Tight coupling of In Silico and Wet Lab workflows through process integration to drive greater throughput, efficiency, and optimization of our R&D process and timelines.

Posted in California, Chemistry Techs, USA | No Comments »

8. July 2008 by Mykel Pereira.

Ocean Power Technologies, Inc.

Corporate Offices:

1590 Reed Road
Pennington
New Jersey 08534
USA
Phone: +1 609 730 0400
Fax: +1 609 730 0404

Ocean Power Technologies Ltd

Warwick Innovation Centre
Gallows Hill
Warwick CV34 6UW
UK
Phone: +44 (0)1926 623370
Fax: +44 (0) 1926 408190

About

OPT was formed by Dr. George W. Taylor and the late Dr. Joseph R. Burns in pursuit of their vision of harnessing the boundless energy of the world’s oceans. Starting in 1994 OPT has focused on its proprietary PowerBuoy™ technology, capturing wave energy using large floating buoys anchored to the sea bed and converting the energy into electricity using innovative power take-off systems.

Commencing in 1997, ocean trials have been conducted off the coast of New Jersey to demonstrate the concept of using a floating buoy to capture wave energy and convert it into electricity. The technology is on a growth curve towards full-scale commercial application, recent examples of which are the 40 kW-rated PowerBuoys installed in Hawaii and New Jersey.

Ocean Power Technologies Inc. was floated on the London Stock Exchange’s AIM market in October 2003 following a successful IPO, and is traded on the AIM market under the symbol “OPT”.

The Company completed its US IPO and listing on Nasdaq in April 2007, and is traded on Nasdaq under the symbol “OPTT”.

OPT has begun the initial phase of installation of a 1.39 MW wave farm off the northern coast of Spain. The project is a joint venture with the Spanish utility Iberdrola SA. A full size demonstration plant of up to 5MW capacity is planned for installation in UK waters.

Technology

OPT’s PowerBuoy® wave generation system uses a “smart,” ocean-going buoy to capture and convert wave energy into low-cost, clean electricity.

The rising and falling of the waves off shore causes the buoy to move freely up and down. The resultant mechanical stroking is converted via a sophisticated power take-off to drive an electrical generator. The generated power is transmitted ashore via an underwater power cable.

OPT power station showing multiple buoys.

A 10-Megawatt OPT power station would occupy only approximately 30 acres
(0.125 square kilometers) of ocean space.

Sensors on the PowerBuoy® continuously monitor the performance of the various subsystems and surrounding ocean environment. Data is transmitted to shore in real time. In the event of very large oncoming waves, the system automatically locks-up and ceases power production. When the wave heights return to normal, the system unlocks and recommences energy conversion and transmission of the electrical power ashore.

• Buoys are spaced to maximize energy capture.

• Scalable to large power stations (100+ MW)

Products

Ocean Power Technologies’ PowerBuoy® is designed to convert ocean wave energy into useable electrical power for utility-scale grid connected applications. The PowerBuoy® can be deployed in arrays scalable to 100’s of megawatts.

Posted in New Jersey, Wave Techs, United Kingdom, Tidal Techs, USA | No Comments »