PRESS RELEASE: BlueFire Ethanol Loan Guarantee Application for the Lancaster Project Advances to Final Phase
Company Meets the Department of Energy Part One Application Requirements and is Invited to Continue in Part Two of the Process
IRVINE, CA (November 12, 2009) – BlueFire Ethanol Fuels, Inc. (OTC BB:BFRE.OB – News), a company focused on changing the world’s transportation fuel paradigm through the production of ethanol from non-food cellulosic wastes, today announced that the Department of Energy has determined that BlueFire Ethanol has met the requirements of Part One of the application process and that they have been invited to continue onto Part Two for the financing of their Lancaster Project.
The loan guarantee pursuant to this program would support the construction of BlueFire’s “shovel-ready” commercial (cellulosic) biofuels plant planned for Lancaster, CA. Under this program BlueFire has requested $56 million, which would be combined with other sources to provide sufficient capital for the project’s construction and launch. BlueFire has completed the permitting process and is poised to break ground upon completion of the financing and Loan Guarantee agreements. The Lancaster facility is designed to convert post-sorted cellulosic waste materials diverted from southern California’s landfills to produce approximately 3.9 million gallons of fuel-grade ethanol per year.
“We are honored and applaud the Obama administration and the Department of Energy for their continued support of the biofuels industry. We are very optimistic that the DOE will consider the enormous benefits of BlueFire Ethanol’s technology during Part Two of this selection process,” said Arnold Klann, CEO of BlueFire Ethanol. “It’s programs like the DOE loan guarantee that enable first-of-its-kind technologies to be in a position to secure the necessary funding to move forward and help provide much-needed energy alternatives to petroleum.”
BlueFire Ethanol recently announced its second commercial cellulosic ethanol plant location in Fulton, Mississippi. The project will allow BlueFire to utilize green and wood wastes available in the region as feedstock for the ethanol plant that will be designed to produce nearly 18 million gallons of ethanol per year. BlueFire expects to announce a third planned project facility in the near future.
About BlueFire Ethanol Fuels
BlueFire Ethanol Fuels, Inc. was established to deploy a commercially ready, patented and proven Concentrated Acid Hydrolysis Technology Process for the profitable conversion of cellulosic waste materials (“Green Waste”) to ethanol, a viable alternative to gasoline. BlueFire is the only cellulose-to-ethanol company worldwide with demonstrated production of ethanol from urban trash (post-sorted MSW), rice and wheat straws, wood waste and other agricultural residues.
BlueFire is one of four companies awarded funding from the U.S. Department of Energy under the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to construct cellulosic biorefinery production facilities. BlueFire’s biorefineries will be located near markets with high demand for ethanol and will use locally available biomass. This should dramatically reduce delivery costs and increase biofuel supplies, while providing a unique waste processing technology to help America’s cities better manage the increasing problem of overflowing landfills. For more information, please visit www.BlueFireEthanol.com.
