Ontario Government Selects Rentech's New Renewable Jet Fuel Project for Long-Term Supply of Biomass from Crown Forests

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA AND SAULT STE. MARIE, ONTARIO (May 6, 2011) – Rentech, Inc. (NYSE AMEX: RTK) today announced that its proposed Olympiad Renewable Energy Centre (Olympiad Project) in The Township of White River (White River), Ontario, has been selected by the Province of Ontario for a proposed supply of up to 1.1 million cubic metres (1.3 million U.S. tons) per year of Crown timber. The wood supply, composed primarily of forest waste and unmerchantable species, would be used for the sustainable production of renewable RenJet®, Rentech’s clean certified low-carbon jet fuel.

The announcement was made at a joint press conference in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario attended by Michael Gravelle, Ontario Minister of Northern Development, Mines and Forestry; MPP Mike Brown; MPP David Orazietti; D. Hunt Ramsbottom, President and CEO of Rentech; Chief Roy Michano of Pic River First Nation; Chief Johanna Desmoulin of Pic Mobert First Nation; and White River Mayor Angelo Bazzoni.

The proposed wood allocation to Rentech’s project is the largest ever awarded in the Provincial Wood Supply Competitive Process administered by the Ontario Ministry of Northern Development, Mines and Forestry. The award would provide Rentech with a reliable long-term supply of biomass for its proposed Olympiad Project. The Ministry selected Rentech’s proposal as the best proposed use of the available timber. The selection is the first step in the process of making the wood supply available to the project.

Rentech’s Olympiad Project is being designed to produce approximately 85 million litres (23 million gallons) annually of renewable and certified low-carbon RenJet fuel. The project will also produce 43 million litres (13 million gallons) annually of renewable naphtha, a chemical feedstock.

The Olympiad Project, scheduled to be in service in 2015, will be designed as a state-of-the-art renewable energy facility that will employ the Company’s Rentech-ClearFuels biomass gasification system and the Rentech Process to produce the only type of alternative jet fuel certified for use in commercial aviation today. These leading-edge technologies will enable Rentech to turn primarily unmerchantable and underutilized timber into clean, renewable jet fuel.

Rentech is working closely with Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC), whose C$500 million NextGen Biofuels Fund (NGBF) offers a significant potential funding source for the Olympiad Project. After a year of discussions with SDTC, Rentech has recently submitted an application for funding to the NGBF, which funds up to 40 per cent to a maximum of C$200 million of eligible project development and construction costs, which would be repaid from a percentage of the project’s cash flows.

“We are eager to deploy Rentech’s proven proprietary technologies to create certified, renewable, low-carbon jet fuel, while helping transform the forestry sector and creating new jobs,” said D. Hunt Ramsbottom, President and CEO, of Rentech. “Ontario is a leader in environmental sustainability and we are pleased to be working closely with the Governments of Ontario and Canada, First Nations and The Township of White River on this important initiative. This selection in the Province of Ontario’s competitive process underscores Rentech’s leadership role in a low carbon future and builds on the company’s success in developing clean fuel technologies that are ready for commercial-scale production today.”