ELK POINT, S.D.—By incorporating additional state-of-the-art heat recovery devices in the

design of the refinery, the Hyperion Energy Center’s greenhouse gas emissions will be reduced

by more than 57,000 tons per year relative to prior estimates, Hyperion Vice President Preston

Phillips said today.

Hyperion initially proposed installing these combustion air pre-heaters in nine of the refinery’s

process heaters. However, the South Dakota Department of Environment and Natural

Resources (DENR) requested the company examine the benefits of using pre?heaters at

additional process heaters. Based on the study and calculations of the company’s air quality

consultants, Hyperion determined that pre?heating the combustion air at four additional

process heaters will indeed reduce CO2 emissions without causing other unacceptable impacts.

“We constantly look for ways to reduce our carbon footprint and improve the efficiency of the

refinery,” Phillips said. “In this case, it was the experts at DENR who first thought that adding

this equipment may enable us to reduce our emissions even more.” Hyperion’s analysis,

conducted by RTP Environmental, of Raleigh, N.C., determined that adding the four additional

pre?heaters will reduce emissions and meets Best Available Control Technology (BACT)

standards.

The four pre?heaters will add approximately $18 million to the construction cost of the facility,

but will also reduce the refinery’s fuel consumption, lowering Hyperion’s annual operating

costs. “It will cost us capital on the front end, but save us money in the long run while

simultaneously reducing emissions, which is exactly in line with the guiding principles of our

Green Charter,” Phillips said.

While the company hasn’t agreed with DENR on every aspect of the refinery’s permit, “This is

an example of how the regulatory process should work – so that in the end we’ll be employing

1,800 Siouxland residents, providing ultra?low?sulfur gasoline and diesel, and doing so with as

light an impact on the environment as possible,” Phillips said.

The design changes and BACT analysis were submitted to DENR by letter this week.

By comparison, this week’s changes more than offset the increase in estimated methane

emissions noted last month.

In November, Hyperion reported an increase of 481 tons of methane annually. DENR and the

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency calculate all greenhouse gases (such as carbon dioxide

and methane) on a CO2 equivalency basis, often referred to as CO2e. That methane increase

amounts to 10,100 tons of CO2e annually. This week’s reduction due to the additional four preheater

devices reduces CO2 by 57,200 tons annually. Thus, on a mass basis, this decrease is 120

times as large as the prior increase, and on a CO2e basis the reduction is 5.7 times as large.

The change outlined in the letter also decreases emissions of other pollutants (NOx, SO2, VOC,

CO, PM) by another 13 tons per year.

The Hyperion Energy Center is permitted for a 400,000 barrel?per?day refinery producing ultra

low?sulfur gasoline and diesel and an IGCC (Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle) power

plant. The center will incorporate green principles in its every day functions and integrate only

the most advanced commercially feasible emission control technologies in its operations, as

spelled out in the company’s Green Charter.