Frontier Awards $2-Million Grant to Michigan State & Michigan Tech

Grant will boost sustainable forestry, help keep cellulosic ethanol low-cost,
low carbon
KINROSS TOWNSHIP, Mich., Nov. 9 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Frontier Renewable
Resources, the Michigan-based company building the state's first cellulosic
ethanol plant in the Upper Peninsula, has provided a $2-million grant designed
to strengthen the sustainable wood fiber supply, develop greater efficiencies
in the harvest and transportation equipment and processes, and further reduce
costs for the cutting edge project. The grant will fund critical research by
Michigan State University and Michigan Technological University that brings
the next-generation ethanol facility closer to construction.

"Frontier is committed to helping Michigan become an energy leader, create
good-paying 21st century jobs and reduce our dependence on imported fuels -
and this important grant assists us in our sustainable forest practices,"
Frontier CEO Steve Hicks said. "Thanks to the tremendous support of Gov.
Jennifer Granholm and her outstanding team, Frontier and the state of Michigan
are in position to write the next chapter of our nation's energy future."

This $2-million grant will help Frontier, through our close working
relationship with researchers at MSU and MTU, improve sustainable wood fiber
supplies and identify cost-efficient and timely methods of harvest and
transportation.

"As a Michigan company based right here in the Upper Peninsula, Frontier is
committed to sustainable forestry and best management practices," Hicks said.

"Frontier and Mascoma have been blazing the trail on cutting-edge next
generation ethanol research and development, and they are on the verge of
producing billions of gallons of low-cost cellulosic biofuels," said MSU
Professor Bruce Dale, who is also editor of the journal Biofuels, Bioproducts
and Biorefineries. "Frontier is poised to change the biofuels landscape in
Michigan and beyond."

"Michigan State and Michigan Tech have been working in partnership to
encourage the development of Michigan's forest bioeconomy for almost two
years," said Steve Pueppke, director of the MSU Office of Biobased
Technologies and the Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station. "We welcome
this support, which allows us to expand the work we've begun and increase the
scope of our efforts to the entire state."

"Michigan Tech is delighted to be able to put our expertise in biomass-based
fuel and renewable energy to work with Frontier Renewable Resources and
Michigan State University, to ensure the economic and scientific success of
this important alternative energy project," said David Reed, vice president
for research at Michigan Tech. Reed played a key role in developing the
research partnership.

Mascoma Corp. is a leader in advanced, low-carbon biofuels technology based in
Boston, Mass. Using proprietary microorganisms and enzymes developed at the
company's laboratories in Lebanon, New Hampshire, Mascoma is collaborating
with research partners globally to identify, patent and deploy a new
generation of microbes and low-cost processes for producing advanced
cellulosic ethanol technologies across a range of non-food feedstocks.
Mascoma is developing demonstration and commercial scale production facilities
in locations across the United States. For more information: www.mascoma.com.

J.M. Longyear is a natural resources company based in Marquette, Mich. Founded
in the late 1800s in the Upper Peninsula, JML owns and manages more than
100,000 acres of forest land in the U.P. and Canada, following best management
practices to ensure forest sustainability for generations to come. For more
information: www.jmlongyear.com.

Frontier Renewable Resources LLC is a joint venture between Mascoma and J.M.
Longyear, with support from the federal and state governments, and major U.S.
corporations. Frontier will build a cellulosic ethanol plant in Chippewa
County in Michigan's Upper Peninsula that will be operational in 2013,
producing up to 40 million gallons of low-cost, low-carbon cellulosic ethanol
a year. The project is expected to create more than 150 local construction
jobs, around 50 full-time facility positions and more than 700 additional jobs
in manufacturing, agriculture and forestry, according to a State of Michigan
2008 estimate. www.frontier-renewable.com

CONTACT: Art Abramson, Frontier Renewable Resources, # 970-485-0521

SOURCE Frontier Renewable Resources

Art Abramson, Frontier Renewable Resources, +1-970-485-0521