Lignol Achieves Important Pilot Plant Milestone

VANCOUVER, May 6 /CNW/ - Lignol Energy Corporation (TSX-V: LEC) ("Lignol" or "the Company"), a leading technology company in the cellulosic ethanol and biorefining sector, today announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Lignol Innovations Ltd. has successfully completed integrated production campaigns and met operability targets for the production of cellulosic ethanol and lignin with its industrial-scale biorefinery pilot plant in Burnaby, British Columbia.

Following the enhancements to its biorefinery pilot plant in late 2009, Lignol has successfully operated all individual unit operations and has now completed an important series of fully integrated production campaigns. Over the past few months the pilot plant has been operating 24 hours per day, 5 days per week. Having reached this milestone of regular full-scale operations, the pilot plant is now generating important data for plant optimization and is preparing the company for commercial due diligence. Next steps now involve achieving preliminary benchmark performance targets on hardwood feedstock with which to confirm engineering designs for demonstration and commercial scale projects.

"These integrated production campaigns bring together the collective efforts of our technology, our science and our people," said Lignol President and CEO, Ross MacLachlan. "In addition to showcasing our advanced technologies to existing and new corporate partners, the information that is being generated from the integrated production campaigns will be vital to helping Lignol realize its goal of becoming the lowest cost producer of cellulosic ethanol."

The Lignol facility represents one of only a handful of fully integrated cellulosic ethanol pilot plants operating in the world today and is uniquely capable of producing high purity lignin derivatives engineered for specific industrial applications. The technology provides a valuable platform to the chemical industry as it evolves toward using renewable and environmentally attractive alternatives to petroleum based feedstocks.

About Lignol

Lignol (TSX-V: LEC) is a Canadian company undertaking the development of biorefining technologies for the production of fuel-grade ethanol and other biochemical co-products from non-food cellulosic biomass feedstocks. Lignol's modified solvent based pre-treatment technology facilitates the rapid, high-yield conversion of cellulose to ethanol and the production of value-added biochemical co-products, including high purity HP-L(TM) lignins. HP-L(TM) lignin represents a new class of high purity lignin extractives (and their subsequent derivatives) which can be engineered to meet the chemical properties and functional requirements of a range of industrial applications that until now has not been possible with traditional lignin by-products generated from other processes. Lignol is executing on its development plan through strategic partnerships to further develop and integrate its core technologies on a commercial scale. Lignol also intends to invest in, or otherwise obtain, equity interests in energy related projects which have synergies with its biorefining technology. For more information about Lignol, please visit our website at www.lignol.ca.

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Caution concerning forward-looking statements

Certain statements contained in this document may constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Such forward-looking statements or information include, without limitation, statements or information about our ability to fund our Baseline Operations (using the definition of "Baseline Operations" as set out in Lignol's Management's Discussion & Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations for the three and nine-month periods ended January 31, 2010), the development status of our fully integrated biorefinery pilot plant in Burnaby, British Columbia, the planning and development of our previously proposed cellulosic ethanol commercial demonstration plant, our ability to exploit commercial opportunities and broaden our market opportunities for a range of cellulosic derivatives and environmentally sustainable biochemicals and our ability to pursue these opportunities with strategic partners. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements or information can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes" or variations of such words and phrases or words and phrases that state or indicate that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. Such statements or information reflect Lignol's current views with respect to future events and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions including, without limitation, our ability to establish the validity of our technology at the fully integrated biorefinery pilot plant scale, our ability to satisfy the conditions of existing government grants and to obtain new additional grants, our ability to finance and complete the development of the commercial demonstration plant, our ability to develop our products, our ability to obtain requisite regulatory approvals and our ability to enter into agreements with strategic partners on terms acceptable to us. Forward-looking statements and information are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by management, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. Many factors could cause Lignol's actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements that may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or information, including among other things, the technological challenges that remain to be surpassed in obtaining the necessary operating data from our fully integrated biorefinery pilot plant that is required prior to completing the next design scale-up of the technology, the complexity of the development of the commercial demonstration plant, financial market conditions which will effect Lignol's ability to finance its operations, risks relating to the protection of Lignol's core technology from infringement and those risk factors which are discussed elsewhere in documents that Lignol files from time to time with securities regulatory authorities. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements or information prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described herein as intended, planned, anticipated, believed, estimated or expected. Except as required by law, the Company expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward looking statements and information whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. All written and oral forward-looking statements and information attributable to us or persons acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the foregoing cautionary statements.

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For further information: Lignol Energy Corporation, Paul Hughes, Vice President - Corporate Development & Communications, Tel: [phone], Email: [email protected]; The Equicom Group, Alice Dunning, Investor Relations, Tel: [phone] ext. 255, Email: [email protected]