FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:                                                                                                    Lisa Mortenson          
                                                                                                                       Community Fuels
                                                                                                                       760-942-9306  ext 102

Community Fuels Awarded Department of Energy (DOE) Grant:
Efficient Processing of Algal Bio-Oils for Biodiesel Production

Agricultural waste considered resource for commercial scale algal oils development and production into clean burning biodiesel.

Encinitas, California, July 23, 2007— Community Fuels has been awarded a 2007 Phase I Research Grant from the Department of Energy Small Business Innovation Research / Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR) Program. The sponsored project, titled Efficient Processing of Algal Bio-Oils for Biodiesel Production, will evaluate two innovative processes to produce biodiesel from algae. Community Fuels anticipates that this research will resolve key obstacles to the feasibility of large-scale production of biodiesel using algae as a feedstock.

Biodiesel, a viable alternative to petroleum diesel, is a clean diesel fuel made from renewable resources, such as vegetable oils or animal fats. It can be blended at any level with petroleum diesel and used by most diesel engines with few or no modifications. Biodiesel decreases our reliance on foreign oil, strengthens our economy, and enhances vehicle performance. Biodiesel also significantly cuts harmful environmental emissions, including carbon dioxide, sulfates, particulate matter, and carcinogenic compounds.

The most important aspect of sustainable biodiesel growth is the development of appropriate regional feedstocks. Algae have long been considered a potential source of bio-oils suitable for biodiesel feedstock due to their rapid growth rates relative to traditional oil-seed plants and due to their lack of direct competition with food crops. Community Fuels, in collaboration with the Hawaii Natural Energy Institute of the University of Hawaii, will investigate the use of agricultural waste products to grow specific algae species and develop methods for processing algal biomass that can be cost-effectively applied to commercial-scale biodiesel production. The results of this research will potentially unlock a new source of low-cost feedstock that can be widely used by the rapidly growing biodiesel industry.

“Biodiesel production and use is limited by cost and availability of feedstocks such as vegetable oils and animal fats,” states Lisa Mortenson, CEO of Community Fuels. “Only by supplementing our current feedstocks with alternative oil sources, such as algae, will we be able to replace a significant portion of our diesel dependency with clean burning biodiesel,” says Mortenson.

“Biodiesel provides impressive environmental, economic and performance benefits, but current biodiesel technologies are limited in their production potential. Alternative feedstocks and process technologies must be developed in order for biodiesel to secure a more significant role in our nation’s fuel production and supply,” says Dr. Chris Guay, Vice President of Research and Development for Community Fuels.

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