Cielo Provides Update on Continued Progress and Milestones Achieved to Advance Carseland Bio-SynDiesel® Project

February 14, 2024

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(Cielo) Cielo Waste Solutions Corp. (TSXV: CMC; OTC: CWSFF) (“Cielo” or the “Company”), a renewable fuel company leveraging environmental technology to produce renewable fuel from wood by-products, is pleased to share an update on its Carseland, Alberta Bio-SynDiesel® Project (the “Carseland Project”).

Once completed, the Carseland Project represents Cielo’s first commercial by-product-to-fuels facility designed to convert wood by-products into low carbon intensity renewable Bio-SynDiesel® fuel. The Carseland Project will be situated adjacent to an existing synthetic fuel facility owned and operated by Rocky Mountain Clean Fuels Inc. (“RMCFI”) which deploys patented technology developed by Expander Energy Inc. (“Expander”).

The Bio-SynDiesel® fuel produced at the Carseland Project will meet current specifications for RD100 Renewable Diesel fuel that is compatible with today’s existing diesel engines. Cielo is proud to use Expander’s patented Biomass to Liquids technology which uses wood and agricultural by-products or Municipal Solid Waste (“MSW”) and does not rely on food competitive feedstock.

“With three cornerstone agreements in place, Cielo has been able to ramp up the definition, scope and scale of the Carseland Project, allowing our team to confidently move forward with the engineering, regulatory permit applications and early procurement activities needed to make a final investment decision in the coming months,” said Ryan Jackson, Cielo’s CEO. “We are in a strong position to leverage the market-ready technology and early mover advantage.”

Carseland Project Recent Progress & Milestones

The engineering and technical teams at Expander continue to make progress and expect to be in a position to submit a new permit application to Alberta Environment and Protected Areas in the coming weeks.

Several existing critical commercial and business agreements underpin the progress that has been achieved to date. These agreements are noted below and were acquired under the terms of the acquisition transaction with Expander, completed and announced in November 2023.

Biomass Feedstock: Cielo has secured a long-term contract with an established local biomass supply company, ECCO Recycling & Energy Corporation. This contract provides Cielo with an ongoing and cost-effective supply of the requisite biomass feedstock for the Carseland Project.

Site Location: As a core component of the Carseland Project, and as previously disclosed, Cielo has secured approval for a long-term lease on a parcel of land totaling 25 acres, situated immediately adjacent to the existing and operational RMCFI synthetic fuel facility in Carseland. This enables Cielo to leverage existing infrastructure and operational capabilities to accelerate commercial production of Bio-SynDiesel® fuel.

Syngas Processing Agreement: The transaction with Expander allowed Cielo to secure a long-term syngas processing agreement with RMCFI. Through this agreement, Bio-Syngas produced at the Carseland Project will be converted into 8.2 million litres per year of renewable Bio-SynDiesel® fuel at the existing, operational and adjacent synthetic fuel facility.
Cielo looks forward to providing continued updates as further progress is made and milestones are achieved.

ABOUT CIELO

Cielo Waste Solutions Corp. is fueling renewable change with a mission to be a leader in the wood by-product-to-fuels industry by using environmentally friendly, economically sustainable and market-ready technologies. The process and technology does not use food as feedstock as we are proudly advancing our non-food derived model based on our exclusive licence in Canada for patented Enhanced Biomass to Liquids (EBTL™) and Biomass Gas to Liquids (BGTL™) technologies and related intellectual property, along with an exclusive licence in the US for creosote and treated wood waste, including abundant railway tie feedstock. We have assembled a diverse portfolio of projects across geographic regions and secured the ability to leverage the expertise of proven industry leaders. Cielo is committed to the goal of producing renewable fuels from wood by-products that contribute to a cleaner fuel source and generating positive returns for our shareholders. Cielo shares are listed on the TSX Venture Exchange (“TSXV”) under the symbol “CMC,” as well as on the OTC Markets under the symbol “CWSFF.” READ MORE

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Expanding presence: Alberta companies join forces on drop-in bio-synthetic fuels from residuals (Canadian Biomass Magazine)
Cielo secures $1.48 million in financing, aims to accelerate wood-to-diesel projects in Alberta (Canadian Biomass Magazine)
Cielo Confirms Key Equipment Order and Environmental Permit Application, Advancing the Company’s Carseland Bio-SynDiesel® Project Towards Commercialization and Shares for Debt Transaction (Cielo)
Cielo Announces Binding Letter of Intent to Acquire Carseland Facility from Rocky Mountain Clean Fuels Inc. and Announces Termination of Agreements with Renewable U Energy Inc. (Cielo/Globe Newswire)
Biodiesel announcement expected for Wheatland County, chosen over originally proposed Cypress County (Medicine Hat News)

Excerpt from Canadian Biomass Magazine: Two Calgary companies have teamed up to introduce bio-synthetic diesel and jet fuel from forestry residuals and other non-food feedstocks to the Canadian and international markets.

Technology provider Expander Energy and Cielo Waste Solutions, a public waste-to-fuel environmental tech company, are ramping up on multiple projects that Expander president and COO Gord Crawford says are filling a growing need for drop-in biofuels made from low-cost, cellulosic feedstock.

Nearly all renewable fuels in Canada are imported and made from food waste and oilseeds, mainly canola. Large, under construction renewable diesel refineries in Canada will also use oilseed as their main feedstock.

“The issue is the bust between the volume of seed oils that can be produced without impacting the food supply and the volume of diesel and jet fuel that are consumed every year,” Crawford says. “We will be producing both paraffinic renewable diesel and Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF). We have developed a number of processes to do that from non food competitive waste products.”

In 2022, Expander announced it has third-party verified the Net-Zero or better carbon intensity of its trademarked Bio-SynDiesel®, produced through its enhanced biomass-to-liquids (EBTL™) process.

“Essentially the way we get to a low-carbon intensity fuel is by ensuring that every molecule of carbon in the fuel is short-cycle biocarbon from the atmosphere. We let the plants do all the hard work. We then gasify that biomass and efficiently convert it into a liquid fuel product,” Crawford says.

Cielo CEO Ryan Jackson says the partnership with Expander, anchored by a transaction finalized in November, will allow both companies to accelerate the time to revenue on major projects in the works.

Cielo is now “powered by Expander,” Jackson said. “It’s really a good way to describe what it is we are doing … Expander has market ready technology that we can deploy.”

Expander history

Expander Energy as a company is going on 14 years in the cleantech industry as a biomass to liquid-fuels producer. The company has developed a number of patented processes including a tar-free biomass gasifier which is based on a proven Biomass to Power gasifier that successfully operated in the Czech Republic. Combined with a proven small scale Fisher Tropsch conversion
technology which is in operation at Rocky Mountain Clean Fuels Inc. in Carsleand, Alta., Expander can produce a drop-in bio-synthetic diesel and jet fuel from low-cost cellulosic feedstock.

“History is littered with gasifiers that don’t work,” Crawford says. “Expanders patented 3-stage vertical design operated under EU-certification conditions, over a five-year period, and reliably produced virtually zero-tar syngas. There are a number of technical reasons why it’s significantly different than anything in the market.”

In May, the company partnered with IMG Industries to form Expander Technologies Inc., which will manufacture their patented biomass gasifier. The new company, based in Penticton, B.C., will provide the gasifiers for Expander’s renewable fuels projects. Crawford says the ability to do all of their own engineering inhouse allows them to move the project forward efficiently. Expander did the engineering, procurement, and construction management for Rocky Mountain Clean Fuels’ over $100-million natural gas-to-liquids plant in Carseland, which went into operation in 2022.

The Expander management team brings decades of experience in the development, engineering, construction and operation of energy industry facilities.“To say there are 50 plants that have been built by members of the leadership group is no exaggeration – it’s probably an understatement,” Crawford says.

Expander is in the process of introducing its Biomass to Liquids technology to the Rocky Mountain Clean Fuels’ Carseland location, with the goal of creating a fully integrated commercial biomass to Bio-SynDiesel® facility.

Enter Cielo

As of the November transaction, Cielo Waste Solutions now has exclusive license in Canada to use Expander’s Enhanced Biomass to Liquids (EBTL™) and Biomass Gas to Liquids (BGTL™) technologies, as well as license in the U.S. specific to creosote and treated wood waste. Under the agreement, Expander will handle engineering, procurement, and construction, as well as operation and project management for these Bio-SynDiesel® projects, now owned by Cielo. READ MORE

Excerpt from Medicine Hat News: More may be known today about a plan to boost biodiesel production at a refinery in Wheatland County after a company chose it over developing a new facility near Dunmore.

Cielo Waste Solutions said in June it would change corporate priorities from developing its own conversion process to turn railway ties into a fuel source for blending with traditional diesel fuel. As part of the switch, it planned to acquire and expand an operating facility near Carseland, Alta., owned by Rocky Mountain Clean Fuels.

That company, which also has been previously awarded access to a $24-million rural petrochemical diversification grant, is the subject of an announcement planned for today with Energy Minister Brian Jean in Calgary regarding the program.

Cielo proposed in 2018 that it could build a national network of “renewable diesel” production facilities to process agricultural waste byproduct, wood, or even municipal waste. Land contracted near the intersection of the Trans-Canada Highway and Highway 41 N., (east of Dunmore) was designated as the project site.

A local investors group was offered a $2-million payment to cancel a development agreement.

On Nov. 29, the company also stated it planned to divest land and a prototype facility in Aldersyde, Alta., near High River, to focus on closing the transaction to acquire Rocky Mountain fuels. READ MORE