| MOUNT ARLINGTON,
N.J.-- GreenShift Corporation (GSHF) today announced that it has entered
into an agreement to invest $500,000 in Aerogel Composite, Inc. ("ACI"),
a development stage materials science company with proprietary technologies
involving meso-porous carbon aerogel composites.
Under the terms of its agreement
with ACI, GreenShift will purchase 25% of ACI's outstanding stock and receive
certain commercial rights in return for GreenShift's investment and its
provision of strategic business development and other services. Under its
agreement, GreenShift additionally has the option to acquire an additional
5% of ACI.
Aerogel Composites
Aerogels are solid-state substances
similar to gels but where the liquid phase is replaced with gas. Aerogels
have a highly dendritic tree-like structure and rank among the world's
lowest density solids. They have a remarkably high surface area and are
very porous and light. Their microstructure and physical properties can
be manipulated at the nanometer scale by selection of raw material and
modification of manufacturing conditions. Aerogel products can be engineered
to exhibit desired thermal, acoustic, mechanical and/or chemical properties.
Aerogel materials can be produced as monoliths, thin-films, powders, or
micro-spheres to respond to given application requirements.
There are three major types of aerogels:
inorganic, organic and carbon aerogels. Inorganic aerogels are obtained
by supercritical drying of highly cross-linked hydrogels synthesized by
polycondensation of metal alkoxides. Silica aerogels are the most well
known inorganic aerogels. Organic aerogels are synthesized by supercritical
drying of the gels obtained by the sol-gel polycondensation reaction of
resorcinol with formaldehyde in aqueous solutions. Carbon aerogels are
prepared by pyrolyzing organic aerogels in an inert atmosphere.
Carbon aerogels are electrically
conductive and have very high porosity of over 50%, with pore diameters
ranging from 2 to 50 nanometers, and extremely high surface areas ranging
between 400-1000 square meters per gram.
ACI's Patented and Proprietary Technologies
ACI has patented nanotechnology for
the preparation of aerogel composites for a wide variety of applications.
Applications of ACI's Hyrogel(TM) carbon aerogel supported catalysts are
planned to include hydrogen powered stationary and mobile PEM fuel cells,
direct methanol fuel cells (DMFC) for portable electronic devices such
as laptop computers and cell phones, and other metal oxide aerogel supported
catalyst for catalytic converters for gasoline and diesel powered vehicles
and other internal combustion engines.
Hiro Hara, president, chief executive
officer and founder of ACI, said that: "We have many years of development
into our technology and we are very much looking forward to bringing the
many applications of our technology to market. We expect that GreenShift's
investment will accelerate this process and we are pleased to have their
support."
The unique nanostructure of the ACI
carbon aerogel offers higher electrochemical surface areas, better mass
transport, reduced or eliminated ionic contamination and price competitiveness.
This translates into both lower cost and higher performance when applied
to current membranes on the market. ACI's initial products are high performance
electro-catalysts for fuel cells, non-electro-catalysts for emissions control,
and aerogel materials for energy storage.
ACI's electro-catalyst products achieve
equivalent catalytic performance at one half to one tenth the precious
metal loading commonly achieved by current technology. These catalysts
are the primary cost drivers in all of the markets ACI is addressing. ACI's
technology directly addresses the cost of fuel cell systems by lowering
the platinum cost in the membrane electrode assembly (MEA).
For example, ACI's Hyrogel(TM) Carbon
Aerogel Supported Platinum Catalyst (CASPC) reduces the platinum requirements
of hydrogen powered proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells by over 90%
from recently prevailing levels. Based on industry feedback, ACI believes
that its electro-catalyst is the most efficient and most economical PEM
electro-catalyst available today.
ACI has also produced catalyst coated
membrane (CCMs) or three piece membrane electrode assemblies ("MEAs") for
PEM fuel cells, incorporating its proprietary Hyrogel(TM) electro-catalyst.
These CCMs/MEAs have achieved a performance of one watt per square centimeter,
requiring less than 0.1 milligram per square centimeter of platinum on
the cathode. Based on industry data, ACI believes that this performance
is unmatched.
Additionally, in catalytic emissions
control systems, ACI's technology reduces precious metal loading and therefore
cost. In 2003, the $4 billion market for emission control catalysts utilized
$3.19 billion of platinum group metals. This market is expected to grow
significantly due to increased regulation, stricter enforcement and rising
demand for diesel automobiles in Europe and the U.S.
Other potential applications of ACI's
platform technology include materials for ultra-capacitor electrodes, hydrogen
and energy storage, catalyst for fuel reformers, specific gas sensors,
biosensors, and desalination of water.
"We see Mr. Hara's technology as
another remarkable example of leveraging an incremental improvement in
efficiency into dramatic environmental gains," said Kevin Kreisler, GreenShift's
chairman and chief executive officer. "ACI's technology reduces the need
to consume virgin precious and other metals and, consequently, manufacturing
costs for environmentally-beneficial products such as fuel cells and emissions
controls. We believe that decreased costs for such products will eventually
equate to increased production and more environmentally proactive products
in the hands of more consumers. Technologies like ACI's have the potential
to initiate cascade effects in environmental gain and we intend to support
ACI in any way we can. We are very excited to include this important and
timely company and their technology in our portfolio."
ACI was introduced to GreenShift
by Ardour Capital Investments, LLC, an investment banking, equity research
and advisory service firm for the energy technology sector.
About GreenShift Corporation
GreenShift Corporation is a publicly
traded business development company (BDC) whose mission is to develop and
support companies and technologies that facilitate the efficient use of
natural resources and catalyze transformational environmental gains.
BDCs are regulated by the Investment
Company Act of 1940 and are essentially publicly-traded equity funds where
shareholders and financial institutions provide capital in a regulated
environment for investment in a pool of long-term, small and middle-market
companies through the use of senior debt, mezzanine financing, and equity
funding.
GreenShift plans to use equity and
debt capital to support and drive the value of its existing portfolio of
companies and to make investments in a diversified mix of strategically
compatible growth stage public and private businesses and technologies.
GreenShift's current portfolio includes investments in the following environmentally
proactive companies:
-- Veridium Corporation (VRDM);
-- INSEQ Corporation (INSQ);
-- GreenWorks Corporation;
-- GreenShift Industrial Design Corporation;
-- Ovation Products Corporation;
-- Tornado Trash Corporation;
-- Mean Green BioFuels Corporation;
-- Ethanol Oil Recovery Systems,
LLC;
-- Sterling Planet, Inc.;
-- TerraPass, Inc.;
-- Aerogel Composite, Inc.;
-- Coriolis Energy Corporation;
-- Hugo International Telecom, Inc.;
and,
-- TDS (Telemedicine), Inc.
Additional information regarding
GreenShift Corporation is available online at www.greenshift.com.

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