Bon Wier, TX Awarded First BDO Zone ‘AA’ Rating in North America

(Ecostrat) The BDO Zone Initiative has issued an ‘AA’ rated BDO Zone designation for Bon Wier, Texas for 2,000,000 green tons per year of woody biomass. -- USA BioEnergy and Ecostrat are pleased to announce the issuance of a new ‘AA’ rated Bioeconomy Development Opportunity (BDO) Zone designation for Bon Wier, Texas. The ‘AA’ BDO Zone rating supports the siting decision and the capital raise for USA Bioenergy’s development of an advanced biorefinery through its subsidiary Texas Renewable Fuels (TRF). The facility will convert 1M green tons of wood waste into 34M gallons of premium clean burning transportation fuel annually, including Sustainable Aviation Fuel, Renewable Diesel, and Renewable Naphtha.

‘AA’ and ‘A’ BDO Zone ratings identify the areas in the country which are best positioned for low-risk bioeconomy project development. Bon Wier’s ‘AA’ Rating for Forest Residues, Pulpwood & Sawmill Residuals is the first ‘AA’ rating issued in North America.

The Bon Wier BDO Zone is rated ‘AA’, or very low risk, based on numerous positive indicators such as a strong surplus of available biomass, a large number of potential anchor suppliers, and a healthy forestry labor market. Approximately 13.6 million green tons per year of woody biomass is generated in the Bon Wier BDO Zone, defined by a 75-mile radius of Bon Wier.

Future expansion will double the plant’s production capacity to 68M gallons annually. In addition, the biorefinery’s demand for thinnings and wood waste will infuse the forestry industry in the Southeast Texas region with stable long-term revenue.

USA BioEnergy is the fund manager of the Double Eagle Opportunity Zone Fund (“DEOZF”), a national Opportunity Zone fund. The DEOZF was created to allow investors to directly invest in renewable energy projects developed by USA BioEnergy, as well as other projects within the bioeconomy that meet the Opportunity Zone requirements. By taking advantage of preferential tax treatment to defer capital gain while investing in renewable energy projects, the fund offers accredited investors the chance to invest in USA BioEnergy’s waste to fuels facilities. For more information, visit: www.DoubleEagleOZF.com.

“USA BioEnergy is committed to delivering over 100M gallons of sustainable aviation fuel into LAX annually. Airlines using our sustainable aviation fuel will eliminate over 50M metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions over a 20-year period. We achieve this by capturing CO₂ as part of our process then sequester it in permanent geologic storage deep underground. This gives us the lowest carbon intensity score in the industry. We do this as part of our mission to achieve our environmental, social, and corporate governance goals and we strive to meet them globally to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all.” stated Nick Andrews, CEO, USA BioEnergy.

USA BioEnergy is proud to work with Citigroup for equity and permanent debt financing. “USA BioEnergy has engaged Citigroup Global Markets Inc. to act as lead underwriter for a tax-exempt private activity bond offering that will comprise the majority of the senior debt financing for the Texas Renewable Fuels project. Citi and USA BioEnergy have worked closely together for more than two years to develop an efficient, achievable plan and we look forward to delivering on this vision.” said David Livingstone, Managing Director, Citigroup.

“We are excited that USA BioEnergy intends to utilize the BDO Zone Rating to support an upcoming capital raise,” said Jordan Solomon, Chairman of the BDO Zone Initiative. “‘AA’ ratings are rare. In order to achieve the ‘AA’ rating, Bon Wier was screened and scored using over 100 standardized, transparent, and validated risk indicators based on the BSCR Standards for biobased investment. Bon Wier’s ‘AA’ BDO Zone rating speaks to the strength and resilience of fiber supply and infrastructure in the region.”

For more information on the Bon Wier BDO Zone, or to see the full BDO Zone Rating, visit www.bdozone.org.

About Bon Wier

Bon Wier is a small community located 1.5 miles west of the Texas-Louisiana border in eastern Newton County. The county is home to approximately 13,788 residents. Bon Wier possesses a long history in the lumber and forestry industry, dating back to its inception in 1905. Established to take advantage of the growing timber industry, the community was a major stop on the primary lumber servicing line of the Jasper and Eastern railroad.

“Working with CEO, Nick Andrews and the leadership team this past year has been a great pleasure. We also want to thank all the partners and supporters of this project in Newton County. We especially want to thank Governor Greg Abbott and his team for all the support and programs to solidify their decision for Newton County.” said Kenneth Weeks, Newton County Judge.

About USA BioEnergy

USA BioEnergy is a renewable fuels development and integration group based in Scottsdale, Arizona, created to produce Sustainable Aviation Fuel, Renewable Diesel, and Renewable Naphtha from readily available wood waste feedstock. The Company is in the planning stages to build twelve transportation fuel production facilities consecutively. Upon completion, the first facility will produce an estimated 34M gallons annually of premium renewable fuels, with future plans to double the plant’s capacity. The Company will capture approximately 50M metric tons of CO₂over the life of the biorefinery, which will be permanently sequestered in geologic storage deep underground. This will give the Company one of the lowest carbon intensity scores in the industry. The Company has selected the latest bankable proven technology sets from world-renowned providers in gasification, Fischer-Tropsch, and hydrocarbon upgrading. USA BioEnergy’s integrated approach has been identified by its experienced engineering team as the most cost-effective method that produces the highest quality direct replacement for fossil transportation fuels.

For more information on USA BioEnergy, visit www.usabioenergy.com. To connect directly with Nick Andrews, CEO, please email nick@usabioenergy.com.

About The BDO Zone Initiative

The BDO Zone Initiative is an economic development platform that enables local communities to deploy powerful economic development tools–BDO Zone Ratings—to achieve the goal of driving, accelerating, and catalyzing biobased investment and commercial project development in BDO Zone designated regions for new biofuel, renewable chemical, biogas, and bioproduct plants. BDO Zone ratings make this possible by carrying out credible technical evaluations on feedstock and infrastructure risk, which then enables communities to effectively recognize and promote key feedstock and infrastructure “success” characteristics valued by biobased developers and investors around the world.

BDO Zones have the ability to move the needle on job creation, decarbonization, and social justice. With a goal of 1,000 BDO Zones in four years across the U.S., this Initiative has the potential to create over 160,000 new clean jobs, reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2.59% and generate direct economic benefits of over $15B.

For more information about the BDO Zone Initiative, please email Aryn Garswood at aryn@ecostrat.com or visit www.bdozone.org.

About Ecostrat

Ecostrat carries out BDO Zone Ratings across North America based on the investment Standards and Ratings for Biomass Supply Chain Risk (BSCR Standards). Ecostrat led the 6-year USDOE/BETO funded project in the US (and the NRCan and SCC funded project in Canada) to develop the BSCR Standards.

Ecostrat’s Advisory Group combines the BSCR Standards with powerful predictive analytics to understand and minimize feedstock supply chain risk for biobased project developers and investors.

Ecostrat’s Biomass Supply Group has over 25 years of experience in sourcing and supplying over 5 million tons of biomass feedstock for bioenergy, biofuel, and biochemical projects across North America.

Jordan Solomon is Chairman of the BDO Zone Initiative and CEO of Ecostrat. He has overseen the development and operation of biomass supply chains and feedstock due diligence over two decades for bioenergy, biofuel, renewable chemical and biogas projects. READ MORE