Verenium Commends Passage of the Farm Bill as Step Toward Greater Energy Independence

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., May 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Verenium Corporation (Nasdaq: VRNM), a pioneer in the development of next-generation cellulosic ethanol and high-performance specialty enzymes, today applauded Senate passage of the farm bill as a boost for the development of next-generation cellulosic ethanol. The legislation, which cleared the House yesterday by a 318 to 106 vote and the Senate today by an 81 to 15 vote, included several key provisions that when signed into law will speed the development of cellulosic ethanol toward commercialization.

"America is preparing for the next important wave of alternative fuels, and this bill is a watershed moment in our national effort to develop energy that reduces greenhouse gas emissions and lessens America's dependence on foreign oil," said Carlos Riva, President and Chief Executive Officer of Verenium.

    The measure provides:

    -- A cellulosic biofuels production tax credit for up to $1.01 per gallon,
       available through December 31, 2012;
    -- Funding for loan guarantees to commercial scale biorefineries for
       advanced biofuels, including cellulosic ethanol;
    -- Modification of the ethanol tax credit to shift government support from
       corn ethanol to other renewable sources of energy;
    -- A program to encourage farmers to establish and grow biomass crops in
       areas around biomass facilities, such as biorefineries, to reduce the
       environmental impacts;
    -- Continuation of research and development through the biomass energy
       research program administered jointly by the Departments of Agriculture
       and Energy. The bill more than doubles current funding, providing $118
       million for research; and
    -- A multi-agency study to analyze current and future biofuels production,
       and their impact on factors such as land use, fuel prices, the price of
       grains and forest products, etc.

About Verenium

Verenium Corporation is a leader in the development and commercialization of next-generation cellulosic ethanol, an environmentally-friendly and renewable transportation fuel, as well as high-performance specialty enzymes for applications within the alternative fuels, specialty industrial processes, and animal nutrition and health markets. The Company possesses integrated, end-to-end capabilities in pre-treatment, novel enzyme development, fermentation, engineering, and project development and is moving rapidly to commercialize its proprietary technology for the production of ethanol from a wide array of cellulosic feedstocks, including, dedicated energy crops, sugarcane bagasse, agricultural waste, and wood products. In addition to the vast potential for biofuels, a multitude of large-scale industrial opportunities exist for the Company for products derived from the production of low-cost, biomass-derived sugars.

Verenium's Specialty Enzyme business harnesses the power of enzymes to create a broad range of specialty products to meet high-value commercial needs. Verenium's world class R&D organization is renowned for its capabilities in the rapid screening, identification, and expression of enzymes-proteins that act as the catalysts of biochemical reactions.

Verenium operates one of the nation's first cellulosic ethanol pilot plants, an R&D facility, in Jennings, Louisiana and has entered the start-up phase at its 1.4 million gallon-per-year demonstration-scale facility. In addition, the Company's process technology has been licensed by Tokyo-based Marubeni Corp. and Tsukishima Kikai Co., Ltd. and has been incorporated into BioEthanol Japan's 1.4 million liter-per-year cellulosic ethanol plant in Osaka, Japan -- the world's first commercial-scale plant to produce cellulosic ethanol from wood construction waste. For more information, visit http://www.verenium.com.

Forward Looking Statements

Statements in this press release that are not strictly historical are "forward-looking" and involve a high degree of risk and uncertainty. These include statements related to the Company's future growth, its expectations for its business and operations in 2008, anticipated product volume growth and improvement in product revenue, product gross profit and product gross margin, startup, commissioning, testing and operation of its demonstration plant, future commercial cellulosic ethanol projects, the impact of the Company's 2007 and 2008 accomplishments on its business in the future, the Company's 2008 corporate objectives and goals and financial guidance for the remainder of 2008, and the Company's ability to continue to the scope of its operations as planned, all of which are prospective. Such statements are only predictions, and actual events or results may differ materially from those projected in such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to the differences include, but are not limited to, risks associated with Verenium's new and uncertain technologies, risks associated with the costs, labor requirements and labor availability associated with Verenium's demonstration plant, risks associated with Verenium's ability to obtain additional capital to support its planned operations, Verenium's dependence on patents and proprietary rights, risks associated with Verenium's protection and enforcement of its patents and proprietary rights, technological, regulatory, competitive and other risks related to development, production, and commercialization of cellulosic ethanol and other biofuels and the commercial prospects of those industries, Verenium's dependence on existing collaboration, manufacturing, and/or license agreements, and its ability to achieve milestones under existing and future collaboration agreements, the ability of Verenium and its partners to commercialize products (including by obtaining any required regulatory approvals) using Verenium's technologies and timing for launching any commercialized products, the ability of Verenium and its collaborators to market and sell any products that it or they commercialize, the development or availability of competitive products or technologies, the future ability of Verenium to enter into and/or maintain collaboration and joint venture agreements and licenses, changes in the U.S. or global energy markets and risks and other uncertainties more fully described in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including, but not limited to, the Company's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2007 and the Company's Form 8-K filed on April 8, 2008. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof. The Company expressly disclaims any intent or obligation to update these forward looking statements.

    Kelly Lindenboom                     Sarah Carmody
    Vice President, Corporate            Sr. Corporate Communications
     Communications                       Associate
    617-674-5335                         617-674-5357
    kelly.lindenboom@verenium.com        sarah.carmody@verenium.com

SOURCE Verenium Corporation