Red Rock Biofuels awarded US Forest Service Wood Innovations Grant

Red Rock Biofuels has received a Wood Innovations Grant from the U.S. Forest Service to fund its project to convert post-fire charred waste woody biomass to sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and renewable diesel.

“We founded Red Rock more than a decade ago to decarbonize transportation and help mitigate wildfire,” said Jeff Manternach, Red Rock Biofuels co-founder and chief financial officer. “Since that time, demand for SAF has grown exponentially and wildfires in the western U.S. and around the world have grown in frequency, size and intensity. We’re pleased to work with the U.S. Forest Service on this project to convert post-fire charred waste woody biomass present across the U.S. west into valuable SAF.”

Terry Kulesa, Red Rock Biofuels co-founder and CEO, added, “As numerous industries continue to seek new, effective ways to decarbonize their operations and demand for secure sources of low-carbon SAF accelerates, Red Rock’s work becomes even more critical. We expect results of this project with the U.S. Forest Service to support development efforts for our planned biorefineries in California, Oregon, Wisconsin and beyond.”

Wildfires across the western U.S. have become a major problem over the past several decades, now consuming approximately 8.2 million acres per year on average, while federal suppression costs alone spiral into billions of dollars every year. Red Rock’s project with the U.S. Forest Service aims to utilize the increasingly abundant post-fire restoration material to produce low-carbon SAF and renewable diesel fuel.