BP pays nearly $100M for local biofuel firm

By Onell R. Soto, UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
Thursday, July 15, 2010 at 12:18 p.m.

Oil giant BP announced Thursday it has agreed to pay $98.3 million for the La Jolla-based cellulosic ethanol business of Verenium Corp.

The deal includes a San Diego research lab and a facility in Jennings, La., designed to demonstrate large-scale production of ethanol from fibrous materials rather than food crops.

"We are very pleased that our strategic development partnership with BP has successfully advanced our cellulosic ethanol technology to the cusp of commercialization,â€