Audi, Rentech Tout Advanced Clean Diesel's Role in Protecting the Environment

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SACRAMENTO, Calif. October 19, 2010; Today, Governor Schwarzenegger welcomed the "Eureka! Diesel Driving the Future" journey to Sacramento in a celebration at the Capitol steps. Audi, Rentech, Inc., and the Green Car Journal are partnering to drive two Audi A3 TDIs the length of California, powered exclusively by low-carbon, synthetic RenDiesel® fuel produced by Rentech, Inc. (NYSE AMEX: RTK). The tour promotes advanced clean diesel and demonstrates the ability of the Audi A3 TDI to run on synthetic clean diesel for greater efficiency and reduced greenhouse gas emissions. The Audi A3 TDI® is Green Car Journal's 2010 Green Car of the Year®.

The clean diesel journey, conducted by Green Car Journal, is part of the magazine's Green Car of the Year Tour that focuses on the efficiency and reduced carbon dioxide emissions of advanced clean diesel vehicles as well as the importance of low-carbon, sustainable, non-petroleum fuels in California's future.

"California was the first state to implement a low carbon fuel standard and we continue to see innovation, investment and job creation in our state because of this commitment," said Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. "The Audi A3 TDI and RenDiesel are proof of this investment and are further evidence that reliable, clean fuel alternatives are the future. I applaud Audi, Rentech and the Green Car Journal for helping to keep California on the leading edge of the booming industry and for their great work to advance efficient, low-carbon fuels that will reduce our dependency on oil."

The four-day journey kicked off on Monday in Eureka. Today's event in Sacramento included a tour of the Audi A3 TDIs; a display of RenDiesel® exhibiting the ultra-clean nature of the synthetic fuel; and remarks by the Governor and executives from Rentech, Audi and the Green Car Journal.

The next stop on the clean diesel journey will be in Rialto, home to Rentech's proposed Rialto Renewable Energy Center (Rialto Project). The City will be commemorated as "The Chosen City for America's New Fuels." The Rialto Project, which is anticipated to create over 1,000 direct and indirect jobs during the construction and operations phases, is designed to produce approximately 640 barrels per day of renewable synthetic fuels, primarily RenDiesel®, and approximately 35 MW of renewable electric power (RenPower^TM), from urban green waste diverted from landfills. Both of these products will have low-carbon footprints and help California reduce greenhouse gas emissions, consistent with the State's Low Carbon Fuel Standard and Renewable Portfolio Standard. The project is a candidate for a U.S. Department of Energy loan guarantee.

The renewable RenDiesel® to be produced at the Rialto Project promises to reduce lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions by 97% when compared to conventional clean diesel fuel and by a comparable amount over electric vehicles. The emissions produced by combustion of RenDiesel® are lower in particulate matter (PM), nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur oxides (SOx) and carbon dioxide (CO_²), compared to petroleum-based fuels. In addition, RenDiesel® produces fewer emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOC) than ethanol or traditional clean diesel and has the potential to be twice as fuel-efficient as a car running on ethanol.

Audi has long embraced environmental stewardship, most recently with this clean diesel journey to demonstrate that RenDiesel® works with existing diesel engines and that today's Audi TDI technology can achieve its customary performance using a synthetic fuel.

The "Eureka! Diesel Driving the Future" will celebrate the 1,000-mile journey's conclusion with a clean diesel panel discussion at the Peterson Automotive Museum in Los Angeles on October 21st. The panel will be moderated by Green Car Journal's Ron Cogan, and Matt Petersen, President of Global Green USA. Executives from Rentech, Audi, Bosch and Argonne National Laboratory will discuss the latest advances that have made clean diesel vehicles feasible options for today's market, and the role synthetic and bio-based diesel fuels will play in the future.