Initial Programs to Focus on Development of High-Yield Switchgrass
Varieties for Fuel Ethanol
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif., and ARDMORE, Okla., June 7 /PRNewswire/ --
Ceres, Inc. and The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, Inc. today announced a
broad, long-term collaboration for the development and commercialization of
new, advanced biomass crops for fuel ethanol production.
"The Noble Foundation is the world's premier organization for
conventional and molecular breeding of switchgrass and other perennial
grass crops useful for renewable energy production," said Dr. Richard
Hamilton, Chief Executive Officer of Ceres. "Combining the Noble
Foundation's extensive breeding infrastructure and experience base with
Ceres' advanced genomics technologies creates a powerful pipeline for
commercializing improved energy crop varieties to meet the projected market
for cellulosic ethanol."
"We anticipate that this collaboration will position Ceres to be the
premier provider of energy crop germplasm, enabling a deep pipeline of
products tailored to meet the energy needs of targeted geographical regions
of the U.S. and the world. This represents an important and exciting step
toward establishing Ceres as the leading provider of dedicated energy crop
varieties," added Hamilton.
In his January 28, 2006 State of the Union address, President Bush
emphasized that the U.S. must break its addiction to foreign sources of
energy and outlined an initiative to make fuel ethanol from renewable
energy crops such as switchgrass by 2012. He indicated a long-range goal of
replacing more than 75% of U.S. oil imports from the Middle East with fuel
ethanol by 2025 and replacing 30% of current U.S. petroleum consumption
with biofuels by 2030. Switchgrass, a perennial grass native to the
prairies of North America, has been identified by the U.S. Department of
Energy as the primary target for development as a cellulosic fuel crop. It
is estimated that switchgrass and other energy crops grown in the U.S. have
the potential to produce over 100 billion gallons of ethanol per year while
still allowing food, animal feed and export demands to be met. Moreover,
switchgrass has shown the potential to be productive in regions and on
lands incapable of supporting traditional food crops.
"Energy crops represent an important opportunity for agricultural
producers, rural economies and producers and users of transportation
fuels," said Michael A. Cawley, President of the Noble Foundation. "This
collaboration is an opportunity to participate in the development of new
markets for agricultural producers and to expand agricultural production
into non-productive or marginal lands using environmentally beneficial
crops and practices."
"Many speak of the potential for cellulosic ethanol production in the
next decade. We will have advanced varieties in the near-term to assist in
developing this industry," said Hamilton. "Seed of an advanced switchgrass
variety, an initial product of this relationship, is already being
multiplied in preparation for commercialization. This variety has been in
development for a decade and consistently shows yield improvement of 20-35%
over common varieties in comprehensive, multi-site field trials across the
southeastern U.S."
Under the terms of the agreement, Ceres will obtain an exclusive
license to elite switchgrass germplasm and advanced varieties developed by
breeders at the Noble Foundation as well as to varieties in-licensed to
Noble's breeding programs. Initial projects under the collaboration
agreement will expand upon the conventional and molecular breeding program
at the Noble Foundation through integration of markers and other genomic
technologies for development of enhanced switchgrass varieties and other
energy crops for biomass and ethanol production. In addition, the Noble
Foundation will undertake a practical, applied program for development of
agronomic systems and best management practices aimed at optimizing biomass
production and agriculture producer-education.
About Ceres
Ceres, Inc. (http://www.ceres.net), headquartered in Thousand Oaks, CA, is a
privately-held plant biotechnology company utilizing cutting-edge genomics
technologies to deliver sustainable solutions in energy production,
agriculture, human health and nutrition. Ceres utilizes its proprietary
genomics technologies including full-length cDNA sequencing, targeted gene
activation, high-throughput screening platforms, and plant breeding with
trait-linked marker-assisted breeding, to identify and deploy genes and
traits required for the production of elite plant varieties and hybrids.
Ceres is developing energy crops such as switchgrass, miscanthus and poplar
for cellulosic ethanol as well as leveraging its technologies into
established multi-billion dollar markets through strategic partnerships.
Since 2002, Ceres has been deploying its traits and technologies in
traditional row crops such as corn and soybean as part of a multi-year,
$137 million license-based agreement with Monsanto.
About The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation
The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, Inc. (http://www.noble.org),
headquartered in Ardmore, Okla., is a nonprofit organization conducting
agricultural, forage improvement and plant biology research; assisting
farmers and ranchers through educational and consultative agricultural
programs; and providing grants to nonprofit charitable, educational and
health organizations.
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