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(Kingston, ON - March 6, 2009) - Performance Plants Inc. (PPI), a global leader in agricultural and biofuel biotechnology development and Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) are pleased to announce that a project led by PPI will be receiving up to $5,565,063 in funding from SDTC. The funds will be used to advance its trait technologies that improve conversion of cellulose into cost-effective biofuels and biochemicals. The announcement was made today by Natural Resources Minister Lisa Raitt and Vicky Sharpe, SDTC President and Chief Executive Officer.
"The support of SDTC is important and greatly appreciated as it validates the efficacy of our technologies to more efficiently convert non-food biomass into cellulosic ethanol," says Peter Matthewman, President, Performance Plants. "We believe our technologies are the critical link to developing a profitable and sustainable clean energy sector that replaces such feedstocks as coal and petroleum with non-food biomass crops."
According to Matthewman, the challenge has been breaking down cellulose - tight chains of indigestible sugar molecules that make up the majority of plant cell walls - for conversion into renewable sources of energy. PPI has discovered a family of technologies called Enhanced Conversion Technology[tm] (ECT) that alter plant cell walls to significantly improve their conversion into biofuels.
The primary use of the SDTC funding will be to develop ECT[tm] to improve the amount of releasable glucose and develop these traits in non-food crops to increase their conversion efficiency. The SDTC funding support will also be used to support the acceleration of Performance Plants' Biomass Enhancement[tm] (BET) and Water Use Efficiency[tm] (WET) technologies. These yield stabilization technologies will be combined (stacked) with ECT"! to further reduce costs by significantly increasing feedstock yield per hectare of land.
These traits are just some of the technologies developed by the company, which include Yield Protection Technology[R] (YPT) and other traits that stabilize seed yields in drought and heat conditions and improve seed size.
"Current assessments for the North American biofuels market indicate that over 1 billion tons of dry biomass per year will be required to switch current petroleum consumption to 30% renewable fuels," says Mr. Matthewman. "Non-food purpose grown energy crops can provide the yield per hectare necessary to sustainably and cost-efficiently support a new clean energy industrial sector."
PPI's next generation of non-food biofuel crops will also provide benefits to farmers by providing alternative crops such as switch grass, Miscanthus, sorghum and hemp that can be grown on marginal land with limited fertilizer and water requirements.
This next generation biofuel conversion technologies will be driven by PPI trait improvements have the potential to offer the necessary solutions for Canada to create a viable, profitable new clean energy industrial sector that use reliable, consistent, non-food feedstocks with superior processing characteristics, according to Mr. Matthewman. PPI is currently working with its partners to enable the value chain that will see these improvements brought to commercial reality.
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Kingston, ON - July 21, 2008
Performance Plants Inc. ("PPI" ), a leading global agricultural biotechnology company with research and development facilities in Kingston, Ontario, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan and Waterloo, New York, announced today the completion of a $13 million equity financing.
PPI has developed and patented a range of stress-resistant crop seed technologies (weatherproofing "traits") that deliver higher yields and more consistent and cost effective harvests for farmers and feedstock suppliers under conditions of environmental stress such as drought and excessive heat or cold. The company's traits are being evaluated for food crops both internally and in partnership with world-leading seed companies including DuPont business Pioneer Hi-Bred, Syngenta Biotechnology, Stine Seed Company, RiceTec Inc. and The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company.
The company's breakthrough Yield Protection Technology ("YPT" ) is at the heart of its suite of technologies. YPT enables plants to better tolerate drought conditions and to recover faster when watered. Extensive field trials of YPT corn are underway for the third year in the United States, and field trials will begin in South America later in the year.
PPI is also developing non-food biomass crops such as switchgrass, Miscanthus grass and hemp for biofuels use that can be grown on marginal farmland with increased convertibility to fermentable sugars. The company recently purchased a world-class biotechnology research facility in Waterloo, New York that will become the centre for its biofuels research activities. PPI also recently entered into a multiyear agreement with Lafarge Canada Inc. to develop and grow clean energy biomass for use as fuel at the Lafarge Cement Plant in Bath, Ontario.
The funds raised will be used to further develop and expand PPI's portfolio of crop seed traits, accelerate commercialization of the company's food crop traits, and aggressively develop its biofuels business plan and expand its clean energy industrial partnerships.
The equity financing was led by Ceres Global Ag Corp. of Toronto, Ontario. Eastwood Capital Corp. was the other major investor in the financing. Ceres Global Ag Corp. was established in December 2007 to invest in leading global public and non-public agricultural businesses. It is listed on the TSX (TSX-CRP) and is managed by Front Street Capital and Muir Detlefsen & Associates Limited. Eastwood Capital Corp. is an investment holding company owned by William T. Holland of Toronto, Ontario. Other investors include a syndicate of private Boston investors, including Saturn Asset Management, and Montreal-based Endurseaux Inc.
"This investment signals a strong endorsement of the company's patented food and biofuels biotechnology," said Peter Matthewman, President, Performance Plants Inc., "and will facilitate the aggressive development of our food crops and biomass feedstocks for liquid transportation fuels, coal replacement and biochemicals."
"Ceres Global Ag Corp. provides investors with an opportunity to gain private equity exposure to leading global agricultural businesses, such as Performance Plants Inc.," said Tom Muir, Chief Transaction Officer & Director, Ceres Global Ag Corp. "As the world grapples with shortages of food and increasing food prices, PPI's yield-enhancing technologies put it at the forefront of providing solutions for increased global food production."
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(June 18, 2008)
Performance Plants Inc. (PPI) has announced today that it has established an American Research Center to develop specialized non-food crops for industries seeking renewable feedstocks for liquid transportation fuels, biochemicals and coal replacement.
The facility, located in Waterloo, New York, will develop biomass feedstocks adapted to maximize cellulose energy productivity per acre on land less suitable for food or feed production. These crops will not compete with staple food crops such as corn and soybean.
The Center will link PPI's strong trait discovery expertise with its biotech crop development capabilities. It will evaluate and demonstrate industrial, agronomic and environmental efficacy on an adjacent Energy Farm. The Center will provide the next generation of customized feedstocks derived from cellulosic non-food biomass crops.
"PPI's capacity to deliver innovative products for the biofuels industry is now totally in house, from trait discovery to registered crop seeds for farmers and biomass feedstock for industry," says Peter Matthewman, President of Performance Plants Inc., one of North America's leading biofuels and food biotechnology companies.
"As the main constituent of plants, cellulose is the most abundant renewable energy source on earth. The challenge is to convert it economically into the fuels and products that are in demand by consumers. That's the role of the new facility and its staff," said Dr. David Dennis, CEO of Performance Plants Inc.
The company recently announced a four-year agreement with Lafarge Canada Inc. to develop and provide optimized non-food biomass to replace coal at its cement plant in Bath, Ontario.
PPI's proprietary seeds will benefit farmers by providing new income opportunities on land less suitable for major food crops. Target crops include some highly productive annual and perennial and grass species such as sorghum, switchgrass and Miscanthus. Our goal is to provide economically viable feedstocks for alternative energy ventures throughout North America.
"Our new US biofuels facility signals the company's intent to be a major North American player in the emerging cellulosic ethanol sector. The New York facility will accelerate the introduction of crops that are customized as feedstocks for ethanol and bio-products," said Mr. Matthewman.
PPI's proprietary technologies will enable crops to produce more energy per acre and reduce the costs to produce each gallon of ethanol.
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