LS9: Biofuels Digest’s 5-Minute Guide

Address: 600 Gateway Blvd., South San Francisco, CA 94080 Year founded  2005 Company description: LS9, Inc. is a technology leader in the commercial development of a growing portfolio of sustainable products to meet the needs of established and expanding chemical and fuel markets worldwide.  Utilizing a simple, efficient, flexible, cost-effective technology platform, LS9 has created a diverse product portfolio to convert a variety of renewable feedstocks to drop-in chemical and fuel products.  The Company’s proprietary catalysts enable simple conversion and recovery processes that minimize both capital and operating costs while maximizing product flexibility.  LS9 has received numerous awards including the World Biofuels Markets Sustainable Biofuels Technology Award, and the U.S. EPA’s highest environmental honor, the Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award. Major Investors (if a public company, please provide trading symbol and exchange). Flagship Ventures, Khosla Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Chevron Technology Ventures and BlackRock 3 Top Milestones for 2009–12

• Successful fermentation runs completed at 1,000 L, 20,000 L, and 135,000 L scale
• Completion of retrofit and start-up of Florida Demonstration Facility which included funding from the Florida Opportunity Fund
• Expansion of management team

3 Major Milestone Goals for 2012–14

• Opening of Brazil Production Facility
• Additional Fundraising and Partnerships
• Expansion of Product Portfolio

Business Model: (e.g. owner-operator, technology licensor, fee-based industry supplier, investor) Owner-operator Licensor   Competitive Edge(s):

• LS9 technology platform enables a diverse portfolio of products for various applications: surfactants, diesel, jet fuel, lubricants, polymers, solvents, emollients, flavors and fragrances, etc. Each produced using the same bioprocessing and recovery technology and basic capital infrastructure.
• LS9 sustainable drop-in chemicals enable diversification of raw materials, suppliers, and geographies with competitive economics and lower carbon footprint.
• LS9 renewable drop-in fuels require no change in distribution or vehicle infrastructure.
• LS9 fuel hydrocarbons have highest yields and most cost effective one-step processes that require no hydrogenation.
• LS9’s processes affect an 85%+ decrease in carbon footprint relative to petroleum based processes.
• LS9’s technology is feedstock flexible including cane syrup, corn syrup, starch, waste glycerin, molasses, and biomass derived sugar streams.

Research, or Manufacturing Partnerships or Alliances.

• Procter & Gamble – joint development of LS9 technology in the production of chemicals for consumer products. Two product development agreements established, the first in 2009, the second in 2010.
• Chevron – research partnership directed at further improving LS9’s platform technology to produce specific pure hydrocarbon products – since concluded.
• MAN Latin America – partnered with this leading Brazilian engineering and vehicles manufacturing company to test LS9’s renewable diesel in both stationary engines and operational fleet vehicles in Brazil.  The project will include performance, emissions, fuel consumption and engine durability testing, as well as field testing of LS9’s biofuel in Volkswagen trucks and buses.
• Virdia – awarded a $9 million grant from the Department of Energy (DOE) together with partner Virdia to improve and demonstrate an integrated process to convert biomass feedstocks into fermentable sugars and then into diesel and other fuel and chemical products.

Stage  (Bench, pilot, demonstration, commercial) Demonstration Website URL: www.ls9.com     

Project information

Location: Okeechobee, Florida Materials or products produced Fatty alcohols Diesel Fuels Ester chemicals   Capacity (Millions of US gallons per years)      Year, month in service  (planned or projected) Start-up in September 2012   Status: (Open, Under Construction, Planned) Open Feedstock: C5 or C6 Sugar Processing technology (e.g. advanced fermentation, enzymatic hydrolysis)Fermentation

Product information

Product Brand Name: UltraClean™ Diesel Product Description: LS9’s fuel products include biodiesel fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) and fatty acid ethyl esters (FAEE) under the banner of UltraClean Diesel, which can be directly blended into current petroleum based diesel. These products have superior properties to current natural oil –based diesel products.   Product Applications: Diesel, Kerosene, Jet Unique Features (i.e.,what separates this product from the competition, whether bio-based or incumbent fossil-based products – e.g. cost, performance features). LS9’s FAME biodiesel exhibits superior fuel properties due to the Company’s ability to tailor the chain length and level of saturation.  LS9’s biodiesel is expected to have comparable or better cloud point and cetane number.  LS9 has also demonstrated that these biodiesel esters can be further processed using technology provided by companies such as UOP, into pure hydrocarbon diesel and aviation fuel blendstocks.  Ultimately LS9 envisions a family of fuel products targeted at the very large diesel/kerosene and aviation fuel markets. Feedstocks and bio-based content (e.g. “20% soy-based”): C5 and C6 Sugars Product Brand Name: n/a Product Description: Fatty Alcohol Product Applications: Surfactants, including industrial and consumer detergents; personal care items. Unique Features (i.e.,what separates this product from the competition, whether bio-based or incumbent fossil-based products – e.g. cost, performance features). Sustainable alternative to current PKO or Ethylene derived Fatty Alcohols. Feedstocks and bio-based content (e.g. “20% soy-based”): C5 and C6 Sugars