Durham-based Palmer Labs is part of a consortium that has received $44 million in federal stimulus funds, allowing the North Carolina firm to develop its proprietary algae-processing technology for food and fuel.
Palmer and other members of the consortium, called The National Alliance for Advanced Biofuels and Bioproducts, were notified by U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu of the award.
Palmer, an affiliate of Durham's 8 Rivers Capital, is to receive about $1.4 million of the grant, enabling the 14-person firm to hire additional research and development personnel.
"Our goal is highly focused," said Miles Palmer, Ph.D., Palmer's president, who co-founded the firm with Chairman Bill Brown, a visiting faculty member at the Duke University law school.
"We take the biggest problems--currently in energy and food resources--and find cheaper and better solutions through innovative combinations of proven technologies. The DOE stimulus funds provide timely support of this pressing goal to us and our consortium partners, Palmer added."
"Palmer Labs is a great example of the innovation and creativity that are driving North Carolina's future, especially in the energy/green jobs sector, which Governor (Bev) Perdue has emphasized as one of her top priorities for economic development," said N.C. Department of Commerce Secretary J. Keith Crisco.