BlueFire Ethanol Applies for DOE Loan Guarantee; Company Seeks to Secure Complete Funding for Fulton, MS Biorefinery

IRVINE, Calif., Feb. 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- BlueFire Ethanol Fuels, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: BFRE), a company focused on changing the world's transportation fuel paradigm through the production of ethanol from non-food cellulosic wastes, has submitted an application for a $250 million dollar loan guarantee for the company's planned cellulosic ethanol biorefinery in Fulton, MS. The application, filed under the Department of Energy (DOE) Program DE-FOA-0000140, which provides federal loan guarantees for projects that employ innovative energy efficiency, renewable energy, and advanced transmission and distribution technologies, was submitted 15th of February, 2010 and serves as a phase one application in a two phase approval process.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090511/BLUEFIRELOGO)

The Fulton plant is already a recipient of an award of up to $88 million from the U.S. Department of Energy under the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. If approved, the loan guarantee will secure the financing for the remainder of the costs to construct the facility, which will produce 19 million gallons of ethanol per year from woody biomass, mill residue, and other cellulosic waste.

"We are very optimistic that the DOE will consider the enormous benefits of BlueFire Ethanol's technology to convert cellulosic waste products into useable biofuels during this selection process," said Arnold Klann, CEO of BlueFire Ethanol. "Programs like the DOE loan guarantee enable first-of-its-kind technologies to come to fruiting and ultimately help ease the United States' dependence on fossil fuels like petroleum, which is oftentimes imported from hostile nations."

Currently, BlueFire Ethanol is focused on the development of two cellulosic ethanol facilities in Lancaster, CA and Fulton, MS.

The fully-permitted and shovel-ready Lancaster, CA facility, BlueFire's first U.S. commercial plant, will use post-sorted cellulosic wastes diverted from Southern California's landfills to produce approximately 3.9 million gallons of fuel-grade ethanol per year. BlueFire is in the detailed engineering phase and expects to have all necessary permits for its second commercial plant in Fulton, MS by this summer, putting the company on a path to commence construction by the end of 2010. These two planned facilities will create more than 1,000 construction jobs and, once in operation, more than 100 new operations and maintenance jobs. This is in addition to the hundreds of jobs created or maintained at equipment vendors and suppliers.  

"We are looking forward to a very busy and productive year in 2010; we have all of the pieces in place to respond to President Obama's call to boost biofuels production and reduce our dangerous dependence on foreign oil," added Klann. "We at BlueFire are committed to bringing new fuel sources to Americans and agree with the current administration that projects such as ours are the right approach for creating new jobs, equity for shareholders and wealth for the nation, while also developing new export technologies to offset capital flight and give the nation energy security by offsetting oil imports."

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.

If you would like to receive regular updates on BlueFire Ethanol, please select this following link: http://www.b2i.us/irpass.asp?BzID=1437&to=ea&s=0.

Forward-Looking Statements

Statements about BlueFire Ethanol, Inc.'s expectations, including future revenues and earnings, and all other statements in this press release other than historical facts are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and as the term is defined in the Private Litigation Reform Act of 1995. BlueFire's actual results could differ materially from expected results. BlueFire undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect subsequently occurring events or circumstances. Should events occur which materially affect any comments made within this press release; BlueFire will appropriately inform the public.

This press release includes statements that constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the "Reform Act"). BlueFire Ethanol, Inc. claims the protection of the safe-harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Reform Act. These forward-looking statements are often characterized by the terms "may," "believes," "projects," "expects," or "anticipates," and do not reflect historical facts. Specific forward-looking statements contained in this press release include, but are not limited to: our successful development and deployment of ethanol production facility or facilities, impact of the company's expansion plan, and new business development success, future financial results, the impact of competitive products or pricing from technological changes, the effect of economic conditions and other uncertainties. The forward-looking statements contained herein involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the expectations contained in any such forward-looking statements. These risks include, but are not limited to: failure to manage operating expenses or integrate new facilities and/or technologies, each of which could have a material impact on our business, our financial results, and the company's stock price. These risks and other factors are detailed in the Company's regular filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Most of these factors are difficult to predict accurately and are generally beyond the Company's control. Forward-looking statements speak only as to the date they are made and BlueFire Ethanol, Inc. does not undertake to update forward-looking statements to reflect circumstances or events that occur after the date the forward-looking statements are made.

SOURCE BlueFire Ethanol Fuels, Inc.

WANT YOUR COMPANY'S NEWS FEATURED ON PRNEWSWIRE.COM?

440k+
Newsrooms &
Influencers

9k+
Digital Media
Outlets

270k+
Journalists
Opted In

GET STARTED