Officials from Fulcrum BioEnergy hosted Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto and members of the press Friday at the company’s new plant east of Sparks off of USA Parkway.
The facility is part of a new generation of industry technology featuring a “revolutionary process” which turns garbage, that would otherwise be headed for landfills, into net-zero carbon fuels, including diesel and jet.
According to the senator’s office, “this product would be able to be transported to larger refineries across the country and upgraded into clean jet fuel that will be sold to commercial airlines across the U.S.”
The project has faced delays and “obstructions” from the federal government – it was first promoted by the Nevada Governor’s Office of Energy, then U.S. Sen. Harry Reid and USDA Rural Development more than a decade ago – according to Cortez Masto.
“We’re very pleased to be in northern Nevada, instead of northern California, for the very reason that the regulations here are straightforward,” Fulcrum’s then President and CEO, Jim Macias, said at the time. Macias now serves on Fulcrum’s board
Cortez Masto said she has worked to challenge the EPA oppositions and “administrative holdups” from past administrations.
In an exclusive to This Is Reno the senator expressed her feelings on the importance the project represents for the country and to the State of Nevada.
“Nevada is really leading the potential around innovation and the positive impact it can have on addressing a cleaner environment,” she said. “We have Fulcrum that is literally taking garbage out of the landfill and turning it into clean burning fuel.
“This is (part of) the work that I do at the federal level [supporting] investments that support these types of companies that are game changers for our future, for everybody.”
The senator also noted that the facility employs over 120 people with “good paying jobs, good for the State of Nevada.”
