U.S. Department of Energy Awards Flambeau River BioFuels a Grant to Construct First-in-Class...

U.S. Department of Energy Awards Flambeau River BioFuels a Grant to Construct
First-in-Class Facility for Production of Renewable Diesel to be Co-located at
Pulp and Paper Mill in Park Falls, WI
~Project supports Federal Government's goal for developing alternative and
renewable transportation fuels produced from cellulosic biomass~

PARK FALLS, Wis., July 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Flambeau River BioFuels is
pleased to announce that it has received approval of its $30 million grant
request from the U.S. Department of Energy to construct and operate a first-
in-class biorefinery at an existing pulp and paper mill in Park Falls,
Wisconsin. The final award value will be subject to final negotiation with the
Department of Energy. When in full operation, the biorefinery will produce at
least 6 million gallons of liquid fuels per year in the form of renewable
sulfur-free diesel. The biorefinery will not be dependent on any food-based
feedstock materials, but rather on by-products or residuals from forest and
agricultural sources. The biorefinery will also generate at least 1 trillion
BTUs per year of process heat that will be sold to Flambeau River Papers,
which will make it the first integrated pulp and paper mill in North America
to be fossil fuel free.
"This grant supports Flambeau River BioFuels' goal to be a major
contributor in achieving the Federal government's goal of increasing renewable
fuels production and reducing our nation's dependence on Mideast oil," said
Bob Byrne, President, Flambeau River BioFuels. "With this funding, we will be
able to accelerate the retrofitting of this mill from a pure pulp and paper
plant to a broader production facility that will produce biofuels within the
same facility, thus sharing key infrastructure elements and costs."
The Flambeau River BioFuels biorefinery will employ two commercially
proven technologies to produce clean renewable energy and biofuels. It will
gasify biomass resources, such as forest residuals and agricultural wastes,
into a high-quality synthesis gas, which will then be catalyzed by the
well-established Fischer-Tropsch (F-T) process to generate renewable
transportation fuels (sulfur-free biodiesel).
"As you can imagine, we are very pleased that our technology approach has
been recognized by the Department of Energy as a viable way to produce biofuel
from forest residuals -- one of the most abundant renewable resources in the
U.S." said William "Butch" Johnson, whose company Johnson Timber is both a
project partner and a supplier to the biorefinery. "Since day one, our project
has received strong support from Governor Doyle, Chairman Obey and Senator
Kohl and we wish to thank them for all their efforts. Once operational, the
biorefinery will serve to validate the technology while creating a compelling
new model for the pulp and paper industry that can be proliferated throughout
the U.S."
"A clean energy future depends on combining Wisconsin ingenuity with our
state's resources, and I want to congratulate Flambeau River BioFuels for
leading the way," Governor Jim Doyle said. "Their proposed biorefinery shows
us all that we can have an energy future that creates jobs, protects our
environment and relies less on Mideast oil and more on Midwest know-how."
The Flambeau River BioFuels biorefinery will create permanent,
high-skilled operating jobs in the region, long-term logging jobs, and
short-term, engineering and construction jobs, thus contributing to the
economic stimulus of Park Falls, Wisconsin. The biorefinery is expected to be
in operation in 2010.
The project team leading this endeavor is comprised of premiere engineers
and scientists with demonstrated successes in implementing new technologies.
It will also be supported by the expertise of university and government
laboratories.
Flambeau River Biofuels received this grant through their partnerships
with: ANL Consultants, Auburn University, Brigham Young University, Citigroup
Global Markets, CleanTech Partners, Emerging Fuels Technology, Flambeau River
Papers, Johnson Timber, National Renewable Energy Lab, Michigan Technological
University, NC State University, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, ThermoChem
Recovery International, University of Wisconsin, and the USDA Forest Products
Laboratory.
"This grant will help meet our government's goals of creating new jobs,
stimulating remote areas, re-positioning traditional industries for a new
world era, and, most importantly, producing clean fuels from renewable
resources abundantly found in the U.S.," said Bob Byrne. "We are proud to be a
part of this important initiative by taking a leading position in the
advancement of bioenergy technologies and the development of cellulosic
biofuels."
For more information please Bill Johnson at 1-715-558-1630 or Bob Byrne at
1-715-661-0235.
SOURCE Flambeau River BioFuels

Bill Johnson, +1-715-558-1630, or Bob Byrne, +1-715-661-0235, both for
Flambeau River BioFuels