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VIASPACE Inc. to Demonstrate New Technology for Chemical, Explosive and Drug Detection

Posted on: Tuesday, 21 April 2009, 07:30 CDT

Under $786,000 Phase II Contract with U.S. Navy

PASADENA, Calif., April 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- VIASPACE Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: VSPC) an alternative energy company with subsidiary operations in security technology, is planning a mid-May 2009 field demonstration of its high-sensitivity system for detecting and analyzing chemical, explosive, and drug residues in suspect vessels. The demonstration is part of a competitively selected/awarded phase II contract for two years and up to $786,000 in funding.

Through its subsidiary Ionfinity, VIASPACE is developing a sensitive miniaturized "sniffer" in a joint collaboration with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Caltech, General Dynamics, Sionex, and Imaginative Technologies. The development project, entitled "Miniature Electronic Sniffer for Navy Vertical Take off Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (VTUAVs)" was awarded by the U.S. Navy's Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Program.

Ionfinity Chairman, Chief Operating Officer and Principal Investigator James Weiss said: "We believe the new sensor we will demonstrate will substantially raise the standard for future chemical detection and analysis and at the same time make the process much more convenient and timely."

Weiss added that while Ionfinity's new sensor technology has direct application in the $55 billion security industry, it is also expected to have commercial applications in environmental monitoring, agriculture and medicine.

According to the Company, the sensor is a compact stand-alone chemical device consisting of: 1) a new and powerful detector called a Differential Mobility Spectrometer; 2) a non-radioactive ionization method that does not fragment or multiply-ionize sampled specimens; and 3) a micro-gas chromatograph for confirmation and enhanced detection capability. The device will detect chemicals and materials of interest at parts-per-billion (ppb) levels after 6 seconds. The sensor is self contained with respect to power and communications.

About VIASPACE Inc.

VIASPACE is a clean energy company providing products and technology for renewable and alternative energy that reduce or eliminate dependence on fossil and high-risk-pollutant energy sources. The Company provides raw material for cellulosic biofuels and develops and markets fuel cell cartridges, products and technology. VIASPACE subsidiary Direct Methanol Fuel Cell Corporation owns a portfolio of fuel cell patents licensed from Pasadena-based California Institute of Technology (Caltech), which manages NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where the direct methanol fuel cell was invented. For more information, please see http://www.viaspace.com/ or contact Dr. Jan Vandersande, Director of Communications, at 800-517-8050 or IR@VIASPACE.com.

Safe Harbor Statement: Information in this press release and interview includes forward-looking statements which relate to future events or future performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Such factors include, without limitation, risks outlined in our periodic filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2008, as well as general economic and business conditions; changes in demand for the Company's products; competition from larger companies; technological change; and other factors over which VIASPACE has little or no control.

SOURCE VIASPACE Inc.

Source: PR Newswire

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