Press Releases
| Agrivida Selected to Showcase Technology at 2011 ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit |
« BACK |
MEDFORD, Mass., February 22, 2011— Agrivida Inc., is excited to announce its selection for the prestigious Technology Showcase at the ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit, co-hosted by the Department of Energy's Advanced Research Projects Agency—Energy (ARPA-E) and the Clean Technology and Sustainable Industries Organization (CTSI). Hundreds of top technologists and cutting-edge clean tech organizations competed to participate in the Showcase, a hallway of America's most promising prospects for winning the future in energy.
As one of ARPA-E's selected organizations, Agrivida will exhibit its integrated solution for biomass conversion to nearly 2,000 national leaders gathering to drive long-term American competitiveness in the energy sector, including top researchers, investors, entrepreneurs, corporate executives and government officials. In addition to Agrivida's technology for producing cheap sugars, more than 200 groundbreaking technologies from other ARPA-E awardees, corporations, National Labs and Department of Energy R&D programs will be featured at the event.
Agrivida's technology produces modified enzymes that enable vastly more efficient conversion of plant cell walls into fermentable sugars, using a proprietary pretreatment method. This is the most expensive step in the biomass conversion process, consuming a significant portion of the energy, enzymes, and capital resources required for biofuels production. Agrivida recently announced a collaboration with Syngenta Ventures to develop advanced crop technology that will provide low-cost sugars for a variety of industrial applications.
"This Summit brings together organizations that understand the need to collaborate and partner to bring the next generation of energy technologies to market," said Agrivida Founder and President Michael Raab, Ph.D. "It's a rare and exciting opportunity to have so many key players in the energy community together under one roof and we look forward to sharing our revolutionary biomass conversion technologies with other innovators and investors at the Technology Showcase."
Research and business development teams from 14 Corporate Acceleration Partners committed to technology commercialization will also be present including Dow, Bosch, Applied Materials and Lockheed Martin.
The Summit also features high-profile speakers including U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu, ARPA-E Director Arun Majumdar, U.S. Navy Secretary Raymond Mabus, former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bank of America Chairman Charles Holliday.
The second annual ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit will take place February 28—March 2, 2011 at the Gaylord Convention Center just outside Washington, D.C. To learn more or to register please visit: www.ct-si.org/events/EnergyInnovation .
Agrivida's deal with Syngenta is the latest in a number of recent successes for the company. In July, Agrivida announced breakthroughs in its development of sugar production from enzyme-expressing crops at the annual BIO industry conference, which followed recent awards from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy (ARPA–E) to further develop its proprietary technology platforms in sorghum and switchgrass.
Agrivida, Inc., headquartered in Medford, MA, is the commercial leader in developing improved crops for production of biofuels and bioproducts from non-food agricultural residues and dedicated biomass crops. The company has entered into research and development agreements with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the USDA, ARPA–E, and other corporations. The company received the DOE's 2008 "Energy Innovator Award." With expertise in protein engineering, molecular biology, plant biotechnology, agronomy, and chemical engineering, Agrivida is leading the industry in the development of innovative, sustainable crops and processes to meet energy needs and protect the environment.
About ARPA-E
The Advanced Research Projects Agency—Energy (ARPA-E) is a new agency within the U.S. Department of Energy and the first to focus exclusively on breakthrough energy technologies that could radically change the way we use energy. Rather than performing research directly, ARPA-E invests in high-risk, high-reward energy technologies being developed by universities, startups, small businesses, and corporations. Our staff combines industry-leading scientists, engineers, and investment executives to identify promising solutions to the nation's most critical energy problems and to fast-track top technologies towards the marketplace—which is critical to securing the nation's global technology leadership and creating new American industries and jobs. www.arpa-e.energy.gov
About CTSI
The Clean Technology & Sustainable Industries Organization (CTSI), a 501c6 non-profit industry association, represents the organizations developing, commercializing, and implementing energy, water, and environmental technologies. Clean technologies offer much needed solutions to growing resource security and sustainability concerns and are critical to maintaining economic competitiveness. CTSI brings together global leaders for advocacy, community development, networking, and information sharing to help bring these needed technologies to market more rapidly. Visit www.ct-si.org for more information.