VANCOUVER,
April 17, 2013 /CNW/ - Lignol Energy
Corporation (TSXV: LEC) ("LEC" or "the Company"), a leading
technology company in the advanced biofuels and renewable chemicals
sectors, today announced that, further to its press release dated
March 11, 2013, the convertible notes
("Notes") held by the Company and issued by Territory Biofuels
Limited ("TBF") have been converted into a 40% fully diluted equity
stake in TBF. LEC is now the largest shareholder in TBF, which owns
a 150 million litre per year biodiesel plant and glycerine refinery
located in Darwin, Australia
("Darwin Facility"). In conjunction with this transaction,
two LEC executive officers and directors, Mr. Ross MacLachlan and Mr. Stephen Morris, have been appointed directors of
TBF with Mr. MacLachlan assuming the role of Chairman of TBF.
"On the heels of our recent investment in TBF
and our previously announced technology collaboration, we plan to
work with TBF to finance the restart of this world class facility
and to capitalize on current global trends that appear to indicate
increasing demand and profit margins for biodiesel", said
Ross MacLachlan, Chairman and CEO of
LEC.
On March 11, 2013,
LEC announced it had subscribed for convertible notes with a
principal value of A$1.18 million
issued by TBF, and signed a Technology Collaboration Agreement that
included a package of technical and further assistance to aid in
the restart of TBF's plant. The terms of the Notes provided for
conversion into an equity position for LEC of between 20% to 40% in
TBF, depending on a range of criteria related to the development of
the Darwin Facility. The terms of the Technology Collaboration
Agreement provide for technical assistance from Lignol and its
partners with respect to both the restart of the facility and the
potential integration of new pretreatment technologies and
catalysts to facilitate the processing of a broad range of low cost
feedstocks.
About Territory Biofuels Limited
("TBF")
TBF owns a large scale biorefining facility
located in Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia, which includes a Lurgi designed
biodiesel plant and the only glycerine refinery in Australia. The facility was commissioned
in 2008 at a cost of A$80 million,
along with 38 million litres of related tankage, now leased by
TBF. The biodiesel plant is the largest in Australia with a maximum rated capacity of 150
million litres per year. Originally built to run on
food-grade vegetable oil, the plant was shut down in 2009 due to
feedstock constraints. TBF intends to restart the existing
facility utilizing feedstocks such as tallow and used cooking oil
and then plans to integrate new feedstock pre-treatment
technologies and catalysts to process a broader range of feedstocks
such as lower quality tallow and palm sludge oil; a waste product
from palm oil mill extraction. TBF has established trading
relationships with its shipping, off-take and feedstock partners
which it expects will allow it to profitably start up and operate
the facility.
About Lignol Energy Corporation
("LEC")
LEC (TSXV: LEC) owns 100% of the issued and
voting shares of Lignol Innovations Ltd. ("LIL") and has interests
in both Australian Renewable Fuels Ltd. (ASX: ARW) ("ARW") and
TBF. LEC also intends to invest in, or otherwise obtain,
equity interests in energy related projects which have synergies
with the Company and have the potential to generate near term cash
flow.
LIL is a leading technology company in the
advanced biofuels and renewable chemicals sector undertaking the
development of biorefining technologies for the production of
advanced biofuels, including fuel-grade ethanol, and other
renewable chemicals from non-food cellulosic biomass feedstocks.
LIL's modified solvent based pre-treatment technology facilitates
the rapid, high-yield conversion of cellulose to ethanol and the
production of value-added biochemical co-products, including high
purity HP-LTM lignin. HP-LTM lignin
represents a new class of high purity lignin extractives (and their
subsequent derivatives) which can be engineered to meet the
chemical properties and functional requirements of a range of
industrial applications that until now has not been possible with
traditional lignin by-products generated from other processes. LIL
is executing on its development plan through strategic partnerships
to further develop and integrate its core technologies on a
commercial scale. For more information please visit Lignol's
website at www.lignol.ca.
Caution concerning forward-looking
statements:
Certain statements contained in this document
may constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of
applicable securities laws. Such forward-looking statements or
information include, without limitation, statements or information
about LEC's ability to invest in, or otherwise obtain, equity
interests in energy related projects which have technical and
commercial synergies with the Company and which have the potential
to generate future dividends and near term cash flow, TBF's ability
to finance, restart and profitably operate its 150 million litre
per year biodiesel plant and glycerine refinery, TBF's ability to
work with strong commercial partnerships and to become a major
regional player in the biodiesel market in the Pacific Rim, TBF's ability to integrate new
pretreatment technologies and catalysts to facilitate the
processing of a broad range of lower cost feedstocks, the
successful outcome of projects undertaken under the Technology
Collaboration Agreement between LEC and TBF, LEC's ability to
continue as a going concern and to raise additional financing to
fund the operations of LEC and LIL and to support the financing
requirements of TBF, the development status of LIL's fully
integrated pilot scale biorefinery in Burnaby, British Columbia, the planning and
development of a commercial plant, LIL's ability to complete
project deliverables which are funded in part by government
agencies, obtaining strategic partnership investments and
government funding for initial commercial projects. Often, but not
always, forward looking statements or information can be identified
by the use of words such as "plans", "expects" or "does not
expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates",
"forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or
"believes" or variations of such words and phrases or words and
phrases that state or indicate that certain actions, events or
results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur
or be achieved.
Such statements or information reflect LEC's
current views with respect to future events and are subject to
certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions including, without
limitation, our ability to establish the validity of LIL's
technology at the fully integrated biorefinery pilot plant scale,
LIL's ability to satisfy the conditions of existing government
grants and to obtain new additional grants, our ability to continue
to finance our operations and to finance and complete the
development of a commercial project, LIL's ability to work with
Novozymes to produce cellulosic ethanol at production costs
competitive with gasoline and corn ethanol, LIL's ability to
develop products and to obtain off-take agreements, LIL's ability
to obtain requisite regulatory approvals and its ability to enter
into agreements with strategic partners on terms acceptable to us,
the inability of LEC to influence the strategy, operations and
financial performance of ARW and TBF, the reliance on publically
available information of ARW in the Company's evaluation of its
acquisition of shares in ARW, the potential inability to divest the
ARW ordinary shares due to modest trading volumes and to divest of
its TBF shares, the cost of any future ARW capital investment, the
fluctuation of biodiesel and feedstock prices on ARW and TBF, the
effect on ARW and TBF of changes in government policy relating to
the environment, and incentives for renewable fuels, the ability of
ARW and TBF to generate cash flow and pay dividends, and the
ability of ARW and TBF to market their products overseas and to
meet relevant regulatory requirements. Many factors could cause
LEC's actual results, performance or achievements to be materially
different from any future results, performance or achievements that
may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or
information, including among other things, the technological
challenges that remain to be surpassed in obtaining the necessary
operating data from LIL's fully integrated biorefinery pilot plant
that is required prior to completing the next scale-up of the
technology, financial market conditions which will impact our
ability to finance our operations and to finance the construction
and operation of a commercial plant, the price of gasoline and
demand for ethanol, the market pricing and demand for renewable
chemicals, risks relating to the protection of LIL's core
technology from infringement and those risk factors which are
discussed elsewhere in documents that LEC files from time to time
with securities regulatory authorities. Should one or more of these
risks or uncertainties materialize, or should assumptions
underlying the forward-looking statements or information prove
incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described
herein as intended planned, anticipated, believed, estimated or
expected. Except as required by law, the Company expressly
disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any
forward looking statements and information whether as a result of
new information, future events or otherwise. All written and oral
forward-looking statements and information attributable to us or
persons acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their
entirety by the foregoing cautionary statements.
SOURCE Lignol Energy Corporation