St Louis based CleanTech Biofuels together with its engineering firm, Merrick & Company, has said it is ready to begin operating the first phase of its Municipal Solid Waste to Ethanol project. Dr. Alan Propp, Senior Technical Specialist of Merrick said, "We are very excited to begin evaluating and demonstrating this technology. It has the potential to revolutionize the way American communities deal with their municipal solid waste, while simultaneously producing clean-burning, renewable fuels."

Over the last several months, CleanTech and Merrick have developed a comprehensive project management plan that, says the company, will allow it to move towards the development of commercial municipal solid waste to ethanol plants utilizing the company's proprietary, licensed technologies.

Merrick & Company is a multi-disciplinary engineering firm located in Aurora, Colorado that specializes in, among other things, the design and construction management of energy and alternative energy production systems. Merrick is providing the engineering and technical expertise necessary to ensure successful deployment of CleanTech's technologies. Merrick has comprehensive experience and expertise in engineering and design of biomass ethanol production facilities. They currently are working on many of the leading cellulosic ethanol projects being developed in the United States. Merrick also owns and operates an ethanol production facility at the Coors Brewery in Golden, Colorado.

CleanTech Biofuels is a development stage company that has licensed and is further developing its core patented technologies. When combined, these technologies will convert the cellulosic material in municipal solid waste, green waste, and other cellulosic waste materials, into fermentable sugars for the production of fuel grade ethanol.

"We believe that our combined technologies will enable us to produce ethanol in local communities across America utilizing cellulosic biomass extracted from each community's solid waste streams at costs competitive with those of corn ethanol, while simultaneously recycling garbage and significantly reducing the amount of waste disposed of in landfills", says CleanTech.