Four Rivers (trading as 'Verta Energy') Receives Planning Consent to use its Proposed UK Waste-to-Energy Plant to Generate Electricity.

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM, Dec. 21 /CNW/ - Four Rivers BioEnergy Inc. (OCTBB: FRBE & OTCQB: FRBE) ("4Rivers'' or "Verta Energy" or "the Company") today announced that  the planning authority which has responsibility for its UK plant has cleared the way for applications to be made for detailed regulatory licenses by agreeing that further planning consent applications are not be required to enable the plant to be used to generate electricity for sale.

Stephen Padgett, Four Rivers' Chief Executive Officer commented: "We are very excited by this major advancement in the project. With this consent, we are now able to submit formal applications to the power regulator to grant detailed licenses to sell electricity into the grid, to commence negotiation of the associated commercial contracts and to conclude our discussions with the environmental agency to extend the current environmental permits to incorporate the planned additional activities on the site. This development further validates our ability to properly rezone and prepare the site for use as a waste-to-energy facility and demonstrates the lead that we have over green field energy developments, which might be expected to take up to two years and incur significant costs to potentially reach this same point in the planning consent process."

About Four Rivers BioEnergy Inc.

Four Rivers BioEnergy Inc. is focused on realizing the potential to produce and sell energy (in the form of electricity) from sustainable waste and renewable feedstocks. We trade under the name 'Verta Energy'. Our business model involves the vertical integration of the energy production cycle from feedstock procurement and processing through to electricity generation and sale, all within one business model and on integrated industrial sites.  We are presently in the final phases of completing our first Integrated Waste to Energy Plant on an industrial site in the UK which we acquired in 2009.

To find out more about Four Rivers BioEnergy Inc (OTCBB: FRBE), visit our website at http://www.riv4ers.com.

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These statements are based on management's good faith views and expectations when made. Forward-looking statements are inherently subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties which, in the case of the company, include raising adequate capital to continue operations, technology and product development uncertainties, competition, cost and availability of feedstock, and plant development and manufacturing scale up. Actual results may differ, perhaps materially, from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. The company discussed in this release is not obligated to update its forward-looking statements or comment on those differences. Readers are encouraged to refer to the recent public filings of the company to further ascertain the risks associated with the forward-looking statements. Readers are urged not to place undue reliance upon such statements.

Stephen Padgett, Chief Executive Officer
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Martin Thorp, Chief Financial Officer
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Jim Blackman
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Laurel Moody
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Alvaro Novillo, Spanish Investor Relations
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