Ottawa, Canada (GLOBE-Net) – Cellulose ethanol maker Iogen Corporation has received a CAD $30 Million investment from Wall Street investment firm Goldman Sachs and Co.

“Goldman is the first major Wall Street firm to make a commitment to cellulose ethanol,” says Iogen CEO Brian Foody in a press release. “Renewable fuels like cellulose ethanol are one of the main options President Bush recently highlighted to reduce America’s dependence on foreign oil.”

Iogen is a privately held company, whose shareholders include Royal Dutch/Shell, Petro Canada and The Government of Canada. Goldman Sachs’ investment gives them a minority position.

Iogen is a pioneer in cellulose ethanol technology, with a demonstration facility near Ottawa that converts agricultural materials such as straw, corn stalks, and switchgrass to ethanol, which can be used to replace or complement gasoline as a transportation fuel.

Iogen intends to use the funds to “accelerate (the company’s) commercialization program.”

Currently, the company is choosing a location for a $400 million, full-scale plant to commercially produce cellulose ethanol. Canada, the United States and Germany are the likely locations.

Cellulose ethanol may prove to be a low-cost transportation solution in the future, because it uses readily-available agricultural waste products and is a relatively more efficient energy-conversion than other forms of ethanol. For more information about IOGEN please,