IRVINE, CA -- (MARKET WIRE) -- July 19, 2006 -- BlueFire Ethanol, Inc. (PINKSHEETS: BFRE) announced today it is forming Joint Venture Development Partnerships with qualified and experienced regional developers throughout the United States and Canada. These partnerships will enable BlueFire to rapidly deploy their cellulose conversion technology in North America while targeting specific geographic areas with the highest demand for ethanol fuels and available feedstock supply. BlueFire will be project lead and equity owner in projects utilizing their technology.

BlueFire Ethanol, Inc. was established to deploy the commercially ready, patented, and proven Arkenol Technology Process for the profitable conversion of cellulosic ("Green Waste") waste materials to ethanol, a proven and highly desirable alternative to gasoline. BlueFire's use of the Arkenol Process Technology positions it as 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. Our goal is to develop and operate high-value carbohydrate-based transportation fuel production facilities worldwide. These "biorefineries" will convert widely available, inexpensive, organic materials such as agricultural residues, high-content biomass crops, wood residues, and cellulose from MSW into ethanol.

BlueFire is committed to the concepts of integrity, profitability and increasing shareholder value. Therefore as part of a multifaceted effort, BlueFire plans to, concurrent with the development of its own facilities, form associations with a select group of companies for deployment of the technology. BlueFire proposes to do this through strategic Partnerships, with candidates who have demonstrated experience and exhibit a qualified business model into which the BlueFire technology will form a key business component. A pivotal element for Partnership qualification is the ability to show the potential for key elements essential to the BlueFire process. These include, but are not limited to:

• Access to a reliable source of input raw material including by example,
• -- Landfill locations
• -- Long term landfill diversion facilities
• -- Sources for wood and other cellulose input streams
• An ethanol sales plan
• Potential for co-location with cogeneration facilities (new or existing), or
• A business plan that tightly links to a waste segregation plan or system
• Expansion or replication potential (a pipeline of potential projects)
• Regional diversity
• Existing transportation infrastructure
• Applicant experience, credibility in the market, and credit worthiness are essential

BlueFire has categorized its expansion plans and desires to enter into a portfolio of strategic Partnerships. This plan of using synergistic relationships is believed by BlueFire as the most effective and prudent manner to maximize its operation and expand its market presence. BlueFire has targeted regions where it believes the maximum potential exist. Included in these regions are large urban areas where waste disposal is a problem and landfill disposal alternatives are important, additionally agricultural areas where agricultural residues disposal present challenges are targeted. Further included are areas abutting National Forests where there is a pressing (and long-term) need to dispose of dead or diseased vegetation.

CEO Arnold Klann, in discussing these expansion plans stated: "Since BlueFire technology has been in actual production for over four years in NEDO's pilot plant in Japan, we are well beyond the research and development stage of our business plan. In the last few months, we entered into joint venture discussions with several leading industrial companies, which we believe will result in the execution of definitive agreements to begin construction of biorefineries within the next few months. The average construction time for such biorefineries will last approximately 14 months, with commercial production and realization of sizeable revenues being generated for the Company by the end of the third quarter of 2007. Our first biorefinery under negotiation is capable of producing about ten million gallons of ethanol per year resulting in gross profits in excess of 40% of gross revenues. Subsequent facilities will be sized at 55 million gallons per year. Since our expansion plans are primarily designed around joint venture relationships, the Company can undertake the simultaneous construction of more than one biorefinery at a time. Our projections call for a minimum of 20 biorefineries to be in commercial production within the next 7 years in North America. As these joint ventures are finalized, we will announce them to our shareholders and the market."

BlueFire encourages interested parties to contact it for consideration.