Bion's Integrated Projects to Meet Pew Commission Key Recommendations on Large-Scale Animal Production
May 5, 2008. New York, New York.
Bion Environmental Technologies, Inc. (OTC BB: BNET) announced today that its patented technology, as incorporated in its comprehensive waste management/renewable energy systems ('Bion System' or 'Bion Technology Platform') for existing livestock facility retrofits or Integrated Projects, directly addresses the key recommendations of an extensive study on large-scale animal production released on April 29, 2008 by the Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production. The report documents the Commission's concerns for unintended risks from large-scale animal production across four broad areas: public health, the environment, animal welfare and the quality of rural life.
Further information on the Pew Commission's report on industrial farm animal production can be accessed at www.ncifap.org.
Bion has developed a patented, comprehensive environmental treatment technology for livestock waste that significantly reduces nutrient concentrations in discharged effluent which, in sufficient concentrations, pollute soil and water. The system simultaneously reduces odor and air emissions, including ammonia (a cross media - air to soil/water - pollution issue). The Pew report has identified ammonia as a significant contributor to the multiple environmental and public health issues related to livestock waste.
As implemented in a Bion Technology Platform, Bion's technology represents precisely the kind of new, comprehensive environmental treatment system that the Pew Commission says is needed. The Pew Commission report points out that animal waste in large volumes often exceeds the capacity of the land to absorb the nutrients and attenuate pathogens. Bion's core technology has been demonstrated to reduce nitrogen and phosphorus levels in farm effluent by 75% - 80% (up to 95% with extended treatment), while providing an expected pathogen reduction of three to nine orders of magnitude (three to nine log kill) depending upon the level of nutrient treatment employed at a particular site.
Bion's demonstrated ability to significantly reduce air emissions, including ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, VOC's and greenhouse gases, directly addresses the public health and animal welfare issues in the Pew report, and the Bion System's animal housing and multiple daily collections of manure for treatment eliminates the need for non-therapeutic use of antimicrobials by dramatically reducing vector transport issues.
A peer-reviewed report (and data) documenting the reductions of nutrient releases and gaseous emissions produced by Bion's technology is available on its website at www.biontech.com.
Bion's Technology Platform - a comprehensive environmental management, food and energy production system - incorporates its patented, demonstrated environmental treatment technology into project configurations that enable "closed-loop" integration of livestock, renewable energy and ethanol production with the efficiencies of scale and the advantage of strategic location. The result applies the principles of efficient ecological systems to environmentally sustainable food and energy production.
Bion's Integrated Projects, including its proposed integrated beef cattle, renewable energy and ethanol project in St. Lawrence County, NY, will incorporate its proprietary environmental management process. The overall beef cattle operation - from feed inputs to housing and waste collection cycles and processing - is designed to promote the growth of high value food in an environmentally and economically sustainable manner that will not require antibiotics other than for therapeutic use, as addressed in the Pew Commission report.
Bion believes that our society has spoken and that the market is seeking livestock products that are not only organic or natural, but also friendly to the environment. Existing livestock practices, as documented in the Pew Commission report, represent a situation where a segment of the business community has failed to respond to society's demand for change. Food products generated from a Bion installation will benefit from a dramatically reduced carbon footprint, reduced water use as compared to similar sized existing operations and a traceability program that allows for quality tracking and accountability of the food products produced.
Bion intends to engage the environmental community in an effort which will help consumers identify such products through 'cross branding' similar to the recent Sierra Club endorsement of the new Clorox Green products. Bion believes that consumers' increased ability to identify products produced in an environmentally sustainable manner will allow consumers to target their purchases of such products, thereby promoting environmentally sustainable practices in the livestock industry. The organic industry was and is consumer driven - product identification and standards were the tools the consumer needed to support those products.
Bion's technology and business model, when appropriately applied, will enable environmentally sound livestock products to be delivered to the consumer. The integrated livestock / ethanol / cellulosic renewable energy business opportunity is environmentally beneficial, energy efficient and economically advantageous.
The Pew report has identified ammonia emissions as a major source of the negative environmental and public health impacts of livestock waste. Bion's waste treatment technology reduces ammonia emissions in excess of 90%. Bion's proposed project in the Chesapeake Bay watershed will generate 'nutrient credits' from reductions of nitrogen and phosphorous releases from a dairy in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania nutrient trading program specifically recognizes that ammonia emissions from livestock are a major contributor to the excess nitrogen concentrations in the Chesapeake Bay via atmospheric redeposition.
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PA-DEP) has agreed to grant Bion tradable nitrogen credits based upon its reductions of ammonia emissions. Bion estimates that approximately 50% of the nitrogen credits from its PA dairy facility will be based on ammonia reduction. The PA-DEP will be responsible to certify the reductions and validate the credits for trading. Upon validation by the PA-DEP, the credits will be available for purchase by municipal waste water treatment plants. The plants will use the credits to offset their nutrient discharges in a cap and trade system designed to meet overall nutrient reductions established as part of the Chesapeake Bay restoration program, at a significantly reduced cost to Pennsylvania taxpayers.
Mark Smith, Bion's President, stated, "The Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production focuses needed attention on many of the issues associated with modern livestock production. Bion's technology platform and business model were developed to address the issues highlighted in the report, plus provide substantially improved operational and resource efficiencies that reduce production costs. Bion's Integrated Projects represent the highly-efficient and environmentally sustainable operations that are needed to compete in today's world of heightened environmental awareness, high energy costs and diminishing resources."
About Bion: Bion's patented technology platform largely mitigates the environmental impacts of livestock facilities, such as dairies and cattle feedlots. The platform removes up to 95% of the nutrients in the wastewater effluent and reduces ammonia emissions by greater than 90%. Bion has been providing solutions to the livestock industry since 1990.
By virtually eliminating the environmental impact of livestock waste, Bion's technology creates the opportunity to develop sustainable integrated agriculture operations, comprised of large scale livestock operations balanced with highly-efficient biofuel production, in locations that maximize market opportunities. These state-of-the-art facilities incorporate onsite production and use of co-products - renewable energy produced from the livestock wastes and the distiller grains from the ethanol process - and produce significant advantages in environmental, energy and economic efficiency. For more information, see Bion's website: www.biontech.com.
This material includes forward-looking statements based on management's current reasonable business expectations. In this document, the word 'projects', 'will', 'believes' and similar expressions identify certain forward-looking statements. These statements are made in reliance on the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act, Section 27A of the Securities act of 1933, as amended. There are numerous risks and uncertainties that could result in actual results differing materially from expected outcomes. Bion undertakes no obligation to update forward looking statements.
Contact information:
| Mark A. Smith President 303-517-5302 mas@biontech.com |
Craig Scott Vice President-Capital Markets/IR 303-843-6191 direct cscott@biontech.com |