Storey County biofuel company gets $70 million DOD grant
Submitted by editor on Fri, 09/19/2014 - 9:23am
Fulcrum BioEnergy’s Sierra BioFuels Plant that is being built in Storey County received a $70 million grant boost from the Department of Defense’s Advanced Drop-in Biofuels Production Project, Nevada Sen. Harry Reid announced Friday.
The grant award follows the Sept. 4 announcement by U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack at the National Clean Energy Summit that the Department of Agriculture had finalized a $105 million loan guarantee for the Sierra BioFuels plant.
“Clean energy must be a component of our national security strategy and this investment in Nevada will help to reduce our nation’s dependence on foreign sources of energy,” said Reid in a news release. “This investment will help put America on the leading edge of clean biofuels production and it’s great for Nevada’s economy. This project will create hundreds engineering, construction, and operation jobs in the Silver State. I thank Secretary Hagel, Secretary Mabus, and Secretary Vilsack for their efforts to advance our nation’s national security by helping to insulate it from future spikes in the costs of fossil fuels.”
"Fulcrum's innovative process converts household garbage into jet and diesel fuels at a cost well below the cost of petroleum based fuels, providing our customers, including the U.S. military, with a new source of fuel, one that is domestic, renewable and competitively priced. We are very pleased to be part of this very important Department of Defense program and excited to be partnering with the Department of Defense on our Sierra BioFuels Plant," said E. James Macias, Fulcrum's President and Chief Executive Officer.
In 2011, the Obama Administration announced that the U.S. Departments of Defense, Agriculture, and Energy would partner with the private sector to produce advanced drop-in aviation and marine biofuels to power military and commercial transportation.
In 2012 and 2013, the Senate rejected amendments during its consideration of the Fiscal Year 2013 National Defense Authorization and the Fiscal Year 2013 Continuing Appropriations Act that would have undercut these clean energy investments from the Department of Defense. For links to these votes, click here and here.
Senator Reid wrote Secretary Hagel in support of Fulcrum’s grant application earlier this year and has consistently supported efforts to reduce our nation’s dependence on oil.
About Fulcrum BioEnergy’s Sierra BioFuels Plant
The Sierra BioFuels Plant, once built, will produce more than 10 million gallons per year of advanced biofuels while diverting over 200,000 tons of garbage from landfills. Additionally, Sierra BioFuels will create over 500 engineering, construction, and operation jobs. The fuel produced by Sierra BioFuels will be sold at market prices.
Sierra BioFuels will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 80 percent compared to traditional petroleum. Sierra BioFuels is the first of more than a dozen plants that Fulcrum has under development throughout North America that will produce hundreds of millions of gallons of advanced biofuels annually.
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