Simon Upfill-Brown Joins GreenFuel as CEO and Director
2008-06-17 23:53:31 -
www.greenfuelonline.com/ - KMC Partners Public Relations Sarah Mees, 617-682-3759 sarah@kmcpartners.com GreenFuel Technologies Corporation, a private company developing algae farming technologies for recycling CO(2) emissions, has recruited Simon Upfill-Brown to be Chief Executive Officer (CEO), starting July 14. The former Dow Chemical executive will also be elected to GreenFuel's Board of Directors on July 23.
Upfill-Brown comes to GreenFuel from Haltermann Custom Processing, of which he was CEO starting in 1993. After Dow Chemical bought the $50 million Houston company in 2001, he was General Manager of Dow Haltermann until it was spun out in 2008 with international operations employing 435 people and earning $230 million in annual revenues. Haltermann provides specialty chemical manufacturing services, including biodiesel, for which GreenFuel plans to be an algae oil feedstock supplier.
After graduating in 1975 with degrees in chemistry and mathematical statistics from South Africa's Stellenbosch University, Upfill-Brown started his career as a bench chemist. He moved into sales, marketing, and eventually general management in the chemicals industry. He received his MBA from Stanford in 1985.
Upfill-Brown replaces Bob Metcalfe, who has been Interim CEO of GreenFuel since June 2007. Metcalfe is a General Partner of Polaris Venture Partners, a lead investor in GreenFuel along with Access Private Equity and Draper Fisher Jurvetson, who completed a $13.9 million venture financing for GreenFuel last month. On the Board he will join Chairman Jennifer Fonstad of DFJ, Peter Thoren of Access, Metcalfe, Cary Bullock (former GreenFuel CEO and current VP Business Development), and Columbia University Professor Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic.
Upfill-Brown said, "Algae has come of age. And I'm enthusiastic about joining GreenFuel's formidable team. By developing and scaling our algae farming technologies, we aim to play a huge role in solving the world's energy problems: mitigating CO(2) emissions and producing renewable fuels, while adding to feed and food supplies rather than reducing them."
About GreenFuel Technologies Corporation
GreenFuel is developing high-yield algae farm technologies to profitably recycle industrial carbon dioxide (CO(2)) and produce feed, food, and fuel ingredients. The company seeks partnerships with power plants, cement plants, corn ethanol plants, and other industrial facilities to build algae farms that can mitigate CO2 emissions. GreenFuel has had successful pilot installations of its technology at host facilities in Arizona, Kansas, Louisiana, Massachusetts, New Mexico, and New York. For more information, please visit www.greenfuelonline.com and read the FAQ.
Former Dow Executive to Lead Algae Farming Technology Development
and Scaling Projects
