Fulcrum BioEnergy project receives $105 million loan guarantee

PLEASANTON, Calif. — Fulcrum BioEnergy, Inc. announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has awarded Fulcrum''s Sierra BioFuels Plant a conditional commitment for a $105 million loan guarantee. With the loan guarantee finalized, the company will secure bank financing, which when combined with private equity capital provided by Fulcrum, will fully fund construction of the municipal solid waste to renewable transportation fuel facility.

The Sierra BioFuels Plant will be located approximately 20 miles east of Reno, Nevada in Storey County. The plant will produce 10 million gallons of ethanol annually as well as renewable energy to be used at the plant utilizing processed municipal solid waste - household garbage - as a feedstock. When operational, management says, the project will provide a new source of domestic renewable fuel, helping to reduce the price of oil and gasoline, reduce our nation''s dependence on foreign oil, relieve pressure on existing and future landfills, significantly lower carbon emissions, and stimulate economic growth in northern Nevada by creating 53 full-time and more than 430 engineering and construction jobs.

"This USDA loan guarantee provides a key piece of financing to move our Sierra BioFuels project forward," said E. James Macias, Fulcrum''s President and Chief Executive Officer. "It allows us to secure private bank financing at reasonable prices and with favorable terms. This is a real example of how USDA''s Rural Development Program helps bring new and innovative technologies and jobs to some of the areas hardest hit by the economic downturn," added Macias.

Fulcrum has secured long-term MSW feedstock contracts and an ethanol off-take contract for the Sierra BioFuels Plant. The company is in the final stages of completing engineering work on the project and will proceed with procurement and construction when the loan guarantee is finalized and the financing is secured.

The Sierra BioFuels Plant is the first of several projects that Fulcrum is currently developing. Fulcrum currently has projects in various stages of development throughout North America that will produce more than 700 million gallons of renewable fuel and remove more than 13 millions tons of garbage from landfills per year. The modular design of Fulcrum''s plants can be readily scaled to ensure the successful large-scale commercial development throughout the country.