Washington - U.S. Senators Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) have announced $33 million in federal funding to help New Jersey become a leader in developing green energy technology. The grant from the Department of Energy has been awarded to DSM Innovations, Inc., (DSM), a Netherlands-based company that employs more than 500 people in New Jersey, to commercialize advanced renewable fuels at its Belvidere facility. The Senators wrote a letter to the Department of Energy in support of DSM's project.

"Prices at the pump, prices of everyday goods and the effects of climate change are evidence that our nation faces an energy crisis that we are not going to be able to dig or drill our way out of," said Sen. Menendez. "The innovation these funds will support will help our nation break its addiction to oil, replacing it with advanced biofuels that are renewable, sustainable, and which will not drive up food prices."

"With energy costs on the rise and the threat of global warming increasing every day, we need to be producing more green energy. Supporting innovative companies and technologies through grants like these is among the smartest steps we can take to save consumers money and save the environment," Senator Frank R. Lautenberg said.

"As a global leader in biotechnology DSM is committed to the development of sustainable technologies, including biofuels," said Feike Sijbesma CEO of DSM. "We are excited and look forward to partnering with the US Department of Energy to further the development of advanced cellulosic biofuels (so-called "second generation biofuels"), and to bring this technology to Belvidere, New Jersey, the United States and the world."

The grant will fund a four year program to develop enzyme technologies that help turn biomass like grass into fuel for cars and trucks. In order to make this process commercially viable, DSM is leading a technical consortium which includes Abengoa Bioenergy New Technologies, Los Alamos Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratory.

The text of the letter to the Department of Energy can be accessed below:
http://menendez.senate.gov/pdf/011808LettertoDOEongrantforDSM.pdf

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