BlueFire in final permitting stage for demo-scale California cellulosic plant using garden, wood waste as feedstock
May 9, 2008
In California, BlueFire Ethanol has reached the final permitting stages for its ethanol plant in Lancaster that will use garden, wood waste and unrecyclable paper as feedstocks. The 3 Mgy plant will be joined in the Bluefire lineup by a 19 Mgy plant in Corona that received a $40 million grant from the Department of Energy and will be operational in 2010. The Lancaster plant will consume 175 tons of waste biomass per day.
BlueFire Ethanol Fuels had hoped to break ground in April but has faced delays in obtaining air permits before commencing construction. BlueFire closed its $15 million financing round last month to provide working capital and project funds for its 17 Mgy cellulosic ethanol project in Southern California.
In the financing agreement, the Quercus environmental trust acquired $15 million in common stock and warrants, while Aurarian Capital Partners and Aurarian Capital converted their senior convertible notes into common stock.
Bluefire holds the exclusive North American license to employ the Arkenol Process Technology, a patented system that transforms cellulosic waste into usable ethanol.
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The biomass-based fuel that has the brightest commercial future over the next five years is cellulosic ethanol made from the patented Arkenol process used by BlueFire Fuels, Inc. This process has been proven to be economically viable by a production plant that has been in operation in Japan since the year 2002. I tried without success to add this process as having the brightest commercial future over the next five years. The first U.S. 3 Mgy plant is starting construction now in Lancaster, CA and the second one (19 Mgy) will be in operation in 2010 in Corona, CA. All necessary financing is in place. Subsequently there will be 20 production facilities next door to garbage landfills in the U.S.; eventually additional facilities next to virtually every landfill in the U.S. A true win-win situation for everyone involved.