Investors in California’s BlueFire Ethanol should be pleased to see that the company posted a profit in 2009.

The company, which is focused on the production of ethanol and other biofuels from non-food cellulosic wastes, reported 2009 revenue of $4,318,213 – which amounts to a four cent profit per share. According to BlueFire CEO Arnold Klann, “Through BlueFire’s continued progress on developing its two planned cellulosic ethanol plants, BlueFire was able to recoup development costs previously expensed dating back to 2007. Late in 2008, BlueFire sought guidance from the SEC on the correct treatment of these reimbursements. It was determined that these reimbursements should be treated as revenue, as the costs were expensed in prior periods and expenses related to the grant are not directly identifiable due to the composition of the reimbursements. These reimbursements along with sugar sales and consulting fees resulted in a $0.04 per share profit.”

Last year BlueFire began to develop relationships with key industry partners such as Solazyme, which has been testing sugars produced through BlueFire’s patented process, for compatibility with its renewable oil process to produce the bio-oil cost effectively and at scale.

BlueFire is one of four companies awarded funding from the U.S. Department of Energy under the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to construct cellulosic biorefinery production facilities. The two plants in development are located in in Lancaster, CA and Fulton, MS.