Midland, MI - March 20, 2007

The Dow Chemical Company announced Monday the company is joining the Colorado Center for Biorefining and Biofuels (C2B2) as a Founding Sponsor.  The C2B2 will focus on biorefining and biofuels research and education. The sponsorship was announced during a joint press conference at the Colorado State Capitol by C2B2 Executive Director Alan W. Weimer, Colorado Governor William Ritter, U.S. Senator Kenneth Salazar and various state and local elected officials.

Dan Kittle, Research and Development vice president at Dow AgroSciences, attended the news conference on behalf of Dow and delivered brief remarks:  “As the largest chemical manufacturer in the United States, Dow is a major consumer of energy feedstocks and we are subjected to the volatilities of natural gas and energy volume and pricing," Kittle said during the event. "This project supports our strategic goal of feedstock diversification through exploration of promising bio-sources. We are pleased to be collaborators in this creative environment.”

The mission of C2B2 is to recruit and train the best engineers and scientists in the biorefining and biofuels community. It is a research venture between large and small businesses and the newly formed Colorado Renewable Energy Collaboratory, the association of four of Colorado's premier research institutions, the University of Colorado at Boulder, the Colorado School of Mines, Colorado State University and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.  C2B2 will perform world class research to develop new biofuels and biorefining technologies and transfer these advances as rapidly as possible to the private sector.

As a supporter, Dow will participate in existing programs as well as be involved in launching and sponsoring specific research projects that focus on the conversion of bio-derived feedstocks into starting materials and intermediates for the chemical industry.

Dow is committed to innovation in solving the world’s most pressing challenges, as outlined in its 2015 Sustainability goals.  Sponsorship of the C2B2 underscores the company’s public commitment to the issues of energy efficiency and climate change. 

About The Dow Chemical Company

For Editorial Information:

Anne Ainsworth
The Dow Chemical Company
989-636-2959