business
Higman joins Ze-gen Scientific Advisory Board Ze-gen Inc. welcomed Christopher Higman to the company’s Scientific Advisory Board. The board focuses on overseeing and driving the technical development of Ze-gen’s advanced gasification technology and offers scientific guidance on the company’s technical direction. Higman’s first contact with gasification was commissioning a producer gas plant in South Africa in 1968. He joined Lurgi in 1975, where he spent the next 27 years mostly involved with gasification and related technologies. Before taking up a corporate management position at Lurgi in 1997, he was head of gas technology. He is currently an independent consultant specializing in gasification and related technologies. BIO
Codexis announces appointments Codexis Inc. announced the appointment of David Anton, Ph.D. as senior vice president, research and development, with responsibility for research and development activities for both the company’s bio-industrials and pharmaceuticals businesses. Anton was previously vice president, research and development for Codexis bio-industrials. He joined Codexis in 2008 after a 25-year career at DuPont. The company also announced that John Grate, Ph.D., previously senior vice president, technology and innovation, and chief technology officer, has assumed the newly created position of senior vice president, science and innovation and chief science officer. BIO
Fredrikson & Byron expand energy group Fredrikson & Byron announced the expansion of the firm’s energy group with the addition of two attorneys, Todd Guerrero and Alan Mitchell, who are particularly experienced in regulatory matters involving transmission and generation. Guerrero and Mitchell will broaden the group’s existing capabilities to help clients build the Guerrero Mitchell next generation of energy infrastructure. Guerrero acts as lead state outside regulatory counsel to five regional utilities on the Big Stone II project, a 500 MW, $1.6 billion supercritical pulverized coal plant and associated transmission lines. He is actively involved in the renewable fuels industry, advising clients on corporate, regulatory and related matters. Mitchell is lead outside counsel to Minnesota Transmission Owners, an organization of utilities with generating facilities and transmission lines in Minnesota. He has extensive experience in environmental and energy-related matters. For more than 25 years, Alan was an assistant attorney general representing the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and the Minnesota Environmental Quality Board in various matters involving rulemaking, permitting, and enforcement. BIO
BRIEFS Advanta, Arcadia to develop salt-tolerant sorghum Advanta, the world’s largest sorghum seed research and marketing company, has reached a research and commercial development agreement with Arcadia BioSciences for the development of salt-tolerant sorghum. Under terms of the agreement, Advanta receives exclusive global rights to Arcadia’s salttolerance technology, which builds on the agreement the two companies struck in January for the development of nitrogen use efficient sorghum. Arcadia’s salt-tolerance technology allows plants to produce normal yields and grain quality under salty water and soil conditions. This expands the range of lands available for crop production and reduces requirements for fresh water. The expected result will be high-yielding crops with a lower impact on the environment and an ability to grow on land currently not suitable for productive farming. BIO
PerkinElmer appoints Friel board chairman PerkinElmer Inc. announced that its board of directors has appointed the company’s President and CEO, Robert Friel, to the additional role of chairman of the board. The announcement comes in conjunction with the company’s annual shareholders meeting held in April. Friel’s appointment is part of PerkinElmer’s 2007 leadership succession plan designed to support the company’s growth strategy and provide strong leadership continuity. Friel succeeds Gregory Summe, chairman since 1999, who didn’t stand for re-election. Friel joined PerkinElmer in 1999 as chief financial officer and was appointed vice chairman and president of the company’s Life and Analytical Sciences business in 2006. In 2007, he was appointed president and chief operating officer. He succeeded Summe as CEO in 2008. BIO
PEA to supply pellets to power company Perth, Australia-based biomass pellet producer Plantation Energy Australia reported it has struck a $70 million, threeyear agreement with a Belgium-based power company to supply densified biomass fuel pellets for electricity generation. PEA said the deal with Electrabel NV is the first of its kind in Australia. The pellets, made from noncommercial plantation forest residues, will be shipped initially from Albany, Australia, where PEA has a pellet manufacturing facility. The company said it plans to increase its fuel pellet output to 1.65 million tons of pellets by 2012. BIO 7|2009 BIOMASS MAGAZINE 13