Area Development
Fulcrum BioEnergy, Inc. started site construction for Phase 2 of its first waste-to-fuels project, the Sierra BioFuels Plant in McCarran, Nevada.According to company officials, Sierra will be the nation's first commercial-scale plant converting a municipal solid waste feedstock, or household garbage, that would otherwise be landfilled, into a low-carbon, renewable transportation fuel product. "Launching the final construction phase of Sierra is another milestone for Fulcrum, our partners, Northern Nevada and the low-carbon fuels industry," Jim Macias, Fulcrum's President and Chief Executive Officer told the more than 200 guests in attendance at the groundbreaking event."We've spent ten years developing, designing, testing, improving and demonstrating this new process so that it is now ready for commercial deployment. By converting waste into low-carbon transportation fuel, Fulcrum provides a real solution to the aviation industry's commitment to reduce carbon emissions,” he added.Sierra, located in the Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center approximately 20 miles east of Reno, will utilize Fulcrum's proprietary thermochemical process to convert household garbage into low-carbon transportation fuels. Fulcrum's process extends the life of landfills and reduces harmful greenhouse gas emissions. Compared to the use of traditional petroleum transportation fuel, Fulcrum said its process will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 80%.When the plant begins commercial operations in the first quarter of 2020, Sierra will convert approximately 175,000 tons of household garbage into more than 10.5 million gallons of fuel each year. Through Sierra, Fulcrum will create 120 permanent plant operations jobs.