In a move that continues to strengthen its financial position, Primus Green Energy Inc., developer of a proprietary process to produce gasoline and other fuels from biomass and/or natural gas, has announced it has completed its third round of funding with the recent $12 million investment by IC Green Energy Ltd, the renewable energy arm of Israel Corp. Ltd. This latest investment brings the total of funds raised since 2007 to $40 million.

"IC Green Energy's financial commitment these past five years has allowed us to proceed toward commercialization in a deliberate, focused manner, secure in the knowledge we are backed by an investor that will also stand behind us over the long-term," said Dr. Yom-Tov Samia, chairman of Primus Green Energy.

"Now that our technology is in place, we look forward to partnering with additional strategic investors to bring our biomass/natural gas-to-gasoline process to market."

The latest $12 million investment completes the financing for the integrated single-loop demonstration plant currently under construction at Primus Green Energy's Hillsborough, N.J., site.

Primus already has a pilot test plant in operation at its Hillsborough complex, and the company plans to break ground in early 2013 on its first commercial plant. Primus is currently working with Bechtel Hydrocarbon Technology Solutions Inc. regarding the design and final estimated commercial plant construction and operating costs.

The easily scalable Primus Green Energy technology is a proprietary combination of industry-proven methodologies and processes that have produced fuels and chemicals at a commercial scale.

The front end consists of biomass gasification or converting natural gas to syngas and the back end, its "STG Plus" (syngas-to-green) gasoline process, a proprietary version of an established fuel synthesis technology. Gasoline produced at the company's test facility has been independently validated by two third-party industry testing laboratories to be 93-octane and with physical and chemical properties adhering to specifications of gasoline.

Primus's technology has significant competitive advantages. The process has a conversion efficiency of 25 percent - twice that of its closest competitor - and the company expects to achieve a conversion efficiency of 33 percent, meaning that it can produce gasoline more economically. On a commercial scale Primus Green Energy estimates the gasoline will sell at a price competitive with gasoline produced from petroleum at $60-$70 per barrel.

"While we are currently focused on bringing our technology to market and on expanding our network of strategic partners, we are always keeping an eye on the marketplace," said Dr. Samia.

"Today we have no plans for an IPO, but if market conditions are right, we would consider it more closely in late 2013 or early 2014."