The Rocky Mountain Collegian

Issue date: 3/20/07 Section: News

A state-owned vehicle that runs on biofuels sits outside the State Capitol in downtown Denver, Monday, March 19, 2007, to showcase Colorado's commitment to new technologies to reduce dependency on foreign oil. In the background, national and state business and government leaders were on hand to announce a new venture, which is called the Colorado Center for Biorefining and Biofuels. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

DENVER - Colorado's biofuels research coalition announced its first major project on Monday, a public-private partnership that will work to create new transportation fuels and other products from crops.

Gov. Bill Ritter said the Colorado Center for Biorefining and Biofuels, or C2B2, will create a partnership between businesses and the newly formed Colorado Renewable Energy Collaboratory.

The collaboratory is partnership with the federal National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the Colorado School of Mines, the University of Colorado at Boulder and Colorado State University.

"We need every molecule we can find that we can bring to market," said Rick Zalesky, vice president of Chevron, one of the participating companies. He said the research will help oil companies expand their business opportunities and provide a new source of fuel.

Companies will pay a membership fees that will finance shared research, and the sponsors will share in the profits of the patents generated to bring them to market. Sponsors can also sign individual agreements to fund proprietary research.

Fees will vary based on the project requested. Lawmakers gave the coalition $2 million in seed money to be used to obtain federal matching grants.

Supporters said the research projects will be done at research labs at NREL in Golden, west of Denver, and at the research universities, helping students learn new technologies.

The participating companies also hope to develop new fertilizers, synthetic fibers, plastics and commercial chemicals. They said developing a new source of materials and energy will reduce dependence on oil and gas and reduce greenhouse gases to help reduce global warming.

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