BlueFire Ethanol Fuels, Inc. (OTC BB: BFRE) announced that it has closed $15 million in financing for corporate overhead and continued project development.
On December 14, 2007, BlueFire entered into a Securities Purchase Agreement whereby Quercus, an environmentally focused trust, acquired shares of common stock and warrants for total proceeds of $15 million.
The financing enabled BlueFire to convert its outstanding senior secured convertible notes held by Aurarian Capital Partners and Aurarian Capital Ltd into common stock.
"BlueFire is very excited to have the Quercus Trust as a strategic investor in our company and we applaud the Quercus Trust’s continued commitment to invest in the companies that provide environmentally sound solutions for today’s global issues," said Arnold Klann, President and CEO of BlueFire Ethanol. "This investment will provide us with the capital liquidity that we need to continue to execute our business plan and will help bring America one step closer to becoming energy independent."
BlueFire Ethanol is one of six ethanol companies awarded funding from the U.S. Department of Energy for its planned ethanol production facility using cellulosic wastes diverted from landfills in Southern California. According to the company, the facility will produce approximately 17 million gallons of cellulosic ethanol per year from green waste, wood waste and other cellulosic urban wastes.
In addition, BlueFire is also in the process of obtaining all necessary permits to commence construction of a smaller facility near Lancaster, California. The Lancaster plant will produce 3.1 million gallons of cellulosic ethanol per year from the cellulosic fraction of post-sorted municipal solid waste, the company says.
BlueFire says by locating biorefineries directly in the markets with the highest demand for ethanol, BlueFire Ethanol’s technology can also help cities manage landfill waste — solving two problems for the price of one.
"We have made significant progress in our efforts to build the first cellulose-to-ethanol facility in California. This facility will be a catalyst for cellulosic fuel production throughout our nation and will provide the first building block in generating the 16 billion gallons of cellulosic ethanol per year that were outlined in the recently passed Energy Bill," stated Klann.
About BlueFire Ethanol Fuels, Inc.:
BlueFire Ethanol Fuels, Inc. is established to deploy the patented Concentrated Acid Hydrolysis Process for the profitable conversion of cellulosic waste materials to ethanol, a viable alternative to gasoline. BlueFire’s use of the Process Technology positions it as 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.
The company’s stated goal is to develop and operate high-value carbohydrate-based transportation fuel production facilities worldwide. These "biorefineries" will convert widely available, inexpensive, organic materials such as agricultural residues, high-content biomass crops, wood residues, and cellulose from MSW into ethanol.
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