Letter from the CEO
March 24, 2008
The world population is growing and our local, national and global community is impacted by this growth. One of our major challenges as a society is to balance our energy infrastructure needs with the environmental impact on several different levels. We require energy to feed our population, we require fuel for transportation, and industries of developed and developing nations require low cost energy in order to grow.
The challenges of meeting those energy needs are many. Globally these challenges include; the availability of land and water for biomass, the pollution of air and water, changing rural and urban economies, greenhouse gases that can change our climate thus the water distribution on the planet, and finally limited resources for research and development of cost effective technologies for alternative energy sources such as biofuels, solar and wind.
Cobalt Biofuels is contributing to solving these challenges by making commercial scale biobutanol from biomass a sustainable reality. Our patented and proprietary technologies create favorable economics for the biorefinery business model by increasing productivity and reducing energy required in the production process. Our three major initiatives are to:
- use nonfood feedstock as the source of carbon for biobutanol,
- reduce the amount of energy required in the total process,
- and reduce the amount of water required to make each liter of biofuel
Cobalt Biofuels and the Next Generation Biofuel Industry
As an industry we need to create multiple sustainable sources of energy through the development of robust technology and sustainable business models to produce and distribute the energy we make. Cobalt's goal for biofuels as a sustainable industry begins with the production of biobutanol as a platform biofuel through a process that has been proven at large scale and with diverse feedstocks.
Cobalt technology can be applied to the utilization of local feedstock or large feedstock sources because our technology is feedstock type independent. This allows communities not able to grow corn due to water, land, and nitrogen issues to still produce biofuels locally.
In addition, butanol has been tested and will continue to be tested in the transportation fuel field. Biobutanol has been produced in large scale and because of its chemical properties, 4 carbons vs 2 carbons (ethanol) it can be integrated into the current petroleum refinery, pipeline, and engine infrastructure.
We are ready now to begin pilot production of biobutanol via Cobalt technology. Stay tuned for site and feedstock selection announcements.
Please use our website to learn more about our company and investors, the strategy for Cobalt's growth within the biofuels industry, and our technological approach to address the industry-wide challenges for next generation biofuels. We look forward to building a sustainable biofuels for the future of our world.
Warm Regards,
—Pamela R. Contag, Ph.D.: President, CEO
Dr. Pamela Contag is the President, CEO of Cobalt Biofuels. Prior to
founding Cobalt, Dr. Contag founded and served as President of Xenogen
Corporation, during which time the company received multiple R&D
100 awards, the "Top 25 Young Businesses" award, and the "Top 25 Women
in Small Business" award from Fortune magazine. Dr. Contag is widely
published in the field of non-invasive molecular and cellular imaging
and holds a number of consulting and board positions in public, private
and not-for-profit institutions.