CAMARILLO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Cool Planet Energy Systems announced today the appointment of Howard Janzen as president and CEO and Michael Bukowski as VP of Fuel Production. Howard and Michael are additions to the existing team of executives at the Company. Howard spent his early career at The Williams Companies involved in both the liquid and natural gas pipeline businesses. He has bachelors and masters degrees in engineering from The Colorado School of Mines. In 1994, Howard was selected by Williams to be the President and CEO of Williams Communications Group. The company designed and built a next generation fiber optics network, initially using existing pipeline rights of way to become a major backbone of today’s internet. Under his leadership, the group completed a $7 billion network build and delivered this project on budget and one year ahead of schedule. Williams Communications Group had a successful IPO and was later spun off as a separate public company. Subsequent to Williams Communications, Howard became the president of Sprint Business Solutions, managing 10,000 employees and over $12 billion of annual revenue. Most recently, Howard Janzen was the CEO of One Communications where he oversaw the integration of eight regional communications companies into one leading service provider.
Michael Bukowski, Cool Planet’s new VP of Fuel Production, spent 14 years at Sunoco where he rapidly progressed from an entry-level service engineering position to become the Vice President of the Mid Continent Refining Complex. He was subsequently Vice President of the Chemical and Manufacturing Division and General Manager of the largest refinery on the East Coast which produces up to 330,000 barrels per day.
Mike Cheiky, founder and chairman of Cool Planet, says, “We are very excited to welcome Howard and Michael on board. They have both demonstrated an extraordinary capability to rapidly expand business opportunities. We see them as a vital addition to transition the company from its development phase to the large scale production of sustainable reduced carbon gasoline.”
More about Cool Planet Energy Systems:
Cool Planet is developing technology to convert any type of cellulosic biomass including agricultural waste and fast growing energy crops into sustainable gasoline. The fuel that Cool Planet produces can be carbon neutral because it comes from bio-sources and the company is also pioneering revolutionary negative carbon fuels which can more aggressively address global warming and sustainability issues. Cool Planet’s investors include General Electric, Google, BP, Conoco Phillips, NRG and the Constellation Energy division of Exelon as well as venture capitalists North Bridge Venture Partners and Shea Ventures. Cool Planet Energy Systems plans to mass produce refinery equipment for the conversion of biomass to liquid fuels and its Cool Planet Biofuels division will partner with a wide range of commercial interests to operate these mini-refineries around the world. For more information go to www.coolplanetbiofuels.com.