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Verenium stock has been beaten down

By GARY PINNELL

Highlands Today

Published: November 16, 2009

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BP has produced a video, part of which is shot in Highlands County, about its joint venture with Verenium. Vercipia Biofuels will produce ethanol from grass at a plant on Lykes Brothers land in southeast Highlands County.

SEBRING - Verenium Corp. common stock has suffered since the biofuel developer offered 2.25 million additional shares on Oct. 6.

Verenium hoped to raise $12.3 million, which it planned to fund operations into 2010. That includes the construction of a Highlands County ethanol plant.

Verenium stock sold for $16.92 in January, but has not performed well this year. Verenium lost $2.3 million in the third quarter.

On Oct. 6, when a share of VRNM and a five-year option to buy another four-tenths of a share was offered for $7.59 a unit, Verenium was selling for $6.60.

By Nov. 4, it hit a recent low of $3.42. On Friday, Verenium closed at $4.49 per share.

Local news

Verenium and BP have a 50/50 technology partnership to develop and commercialize cellulosic ethanol - a gasoline additive made from grass. Their joint venture, Vercipia Biofuels, has designed and plans to construct a $300 million commercial-scale ethanol plant in Highlands County.

Construction work is scheduled to start next year. Vercipia, which means "green beginnings," plans to start operations in 2012, with the capacity to produce around 36 million gallons of ethanol a year.

The company is also investigating the possibility of making ethanol from wood pulp and paper mill residue.

Verenium CEO Carlos Riva is negotiating with the U.S. government for an 80 percent loan guarantee of eligible costs. Riva said in a conference call last week that the deal could be signed in the first quarter of 2010.

BP says dedicated energy crops offer a list of potential benefits:

•They contain sugar that can be fermented into alcohol - energy.

•Sugarcane, sorghum and grasses produce more sugar and therefore more fuel per ton than corn or agricultural waste.

•Energy crops can be grown on less fertile lands that are close to production facilities, which could lower manufacturing costs.

•Energy crops are perennials. They are planted once, but can produce up to 20 years.

BP has produced a video, part of which was shot in Highlands County, about Vercipia, its joint venture with Verenium. Vercipia Biofuels will produce ethanol from grass at a plant on Lykes Brothers land in southeast Highlands County. Watch the video at http://www.bp.com/sectiongenericarticle.do?categor...

Highlands Today reporter Gary Pinnell can be reached at gpinnell@highlandstoday.com or 863-386-5828

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