Sioux Falls, SD, November 4, 2004 – The Broin Companies are pleased to announce the creation of a revolutionary new patent pending technology for ethanol production that eliminates a costly energy consuming cooking step in the process. The “Broin Project X” (BPX) process not only reduces energy costs, but also releases additional starch content for conversion to ethanol, increases protein content and quality of byproducts, increases byproduct flowability, potentially increases plant throughput, and significantly decreases plant emissions.

Jeff Broin, CEO of the Broin Companies, states, “The BPX process may be the biggest breakthrough in starch conversion to ethanol in more than 100 years. We have already implemented the process commercially in three major U.S. ethanol plants with excellent results.”

The BPX process was developed in Broin Companies laboratories and optimized in Broin’s production scale research facility. Broin filed patents for the BPX process and for the use of enabling enzymes for this revolutionary new conversion system. After consulting with several enzyme technology providers on the BPX process, Novozymes, a major developer and marketer of starch conversion enzymes to the ethanol industry, was chosen to partner on the project due to their track record of developing advanced enzyme technologies. The collaboration resulted in the development of new enzyme products that enhance the BPX process.

Broin states, “We have overcome dozens of major hurdles and incurred considerable downtime and expense in our wholly owned research facility over a three year period and have created a process that will change ethanol production as we know it today. It is our intention to license this technology to the ethanol industry worldwide.”

The Broin Companies are a highly specialized and integrated technology development, production, and marketing company in the ethanol industry. As the second largest producer in the industry, the Broin Companies have designed and constructed 19 operating ethanol plants and currently have 5 more under construction or development. The Broin Companies manage, produce, and market more than 600 million gallons of ethanol annually and employ an aggressive growth strategy, adding 100-200 million gallons each year through new design and construction.