The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and BlueFire Ethanol Fuels,
Inc. (OTCBB: BFRE) today announced a cooperative agreement, which
plays a critical role in bringing cellulosic ethanol to
market.
The agreement provides BlueFire with the first of two stages of the
Grant funding (totaling $40 million) for its second U.S. commercial
ethanol production facility located in California. This facility
was designated to demonstrate the economic feasibility and
environmental superiority of producing cellulosic ethanol from
post-sorted green waste and other cellulosic materials.
BlueFire Ethanol's California project was selected by the U.S. DOE
alongside five other U.S. companies in February of this year. The
program provides joint funding for the construction of a commercial
cellulosic ethanol facility. This agreement finalizes the first
phase of the partnership and will govern all aspects of the project
leading up to construction. With the agreement in place, BlueFire
will use the funds to continue pre-construction development
activities which include design, environmental engineering,
permitting and other preliminary activities.
Upon completion of phase one, an additional agreement for phase two
will be negotiated outlining the facility's construction, which is
expected to last 18-months. BlueFire anticipates the facility will
be operational by 2010.
"The DOE funding will enable BlueFire Ethanol to build a facility
that will convert post-sorted green waste and other cellulosic
materials from the landfill into roughly 17 million gallons of
fuel-grade ethanol per year," said BlueFire Ethanol CEO Arnold
Klann. "The same process can be replicated at the majority of the
Nation's 1,600 landfill sites, increasing the essential production
of biofuels, while simultaneously helping cities cope with
increasing volumes of landfill waste."
All of the ethanol produced will be sold under the terms of a
long-term contract with Petro-Diamond, Inc., a wholly owned
Mitsubishi Corp. subsidiary. Colmac Energy will purchase the lignin
produced for use as boiler fuel for its biomass power plant located
in Riverside County. The gypsum will be sold to local landscape
wholesalers and the yeast will be sold as an animal feed
supplement.
In addition to the DOE project, BlueFire expects to obtain all
necessary permits to commence construction of a smaller facility
near Lancaster, California sometime in the 4th quarter of this
year. The Lancaster plant will produce roughly 3 million gallons of
cellulosic ethanol per year from the cellulosic fraction of
post-sorted green waste, wood waste, and other cellulosic
materials. By locating biorefineries within the markets with the
greatest demand for ethanol, BlueFire will help cities manage
landfill waste -- solving two problems for the price of one.
Because cellulosic ethanol has the potential to reduce greenhouse
gas emissions by up to 86%, it is a key solution to addressing
global warming concerns.
BlueFire Ethanol holds the exclusive North American license to
employ the Arkenol Process Technology, a patented, commercially
viable and profitable system that transforms cellulosic waste into
usable ethanol. As a result, BlueFire is uniquely positioned to set
the industry standard in converting waste materials -- such as wood
waste, green waste, straw, switchgrass, and corn stover -- into
ethanol.
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