Federal Transit Administration Awards ICRC Multiple Cooperative Agreements for Clean Fuels Studies

ALEXANDRIA, Va.--Nov. 1, 20056, 2005--Integrated Concepts & Research Corporation (ICRC), a diversified technical and management services company, announced today it was recently awarded approximately $2.6 million in cooperative agreements from the U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Transit Administration (FTA) to evaluate the use of ultra-clean diesel fuel. FTA funds research to provide information to the transit industry and transit policy makers to help them make good business decisions about transit technology, operational, and capital investments. The award is distributed over three agreements that cover work begun last winter by ICRC, as well as ongoing projects expected to continue for about two years.

All three cooperative agreements are for the demonstration and evaluation of ultra-clean diesel fuel produced from natural gas by Syntroleum Corporation using the Fischer-Tropsch process. The fuel is produced at a plant near Tulsa, Oklahoma, that was built under a previous ICRC cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy's National Energy Technology Laboratory.

These FTA agreements provide for the evaluation of the Fischer-Tropsch fuel in transit buses and other diesel vehicles in several locations in the United States. The demonstrations ICRC will be conducting include evaluations of fuel economy, compilation of emission data, and studies of the fuel's effects on a variety of diesel engines.

Several projects being conducted under the cooperative agreements are described below.

-- In Alaska, ICRC is partnering with the University of Alaska Fairbanks to evaluate the use of arctic grade ultra-clean diesel fuel at low temperatures. The fuel has been used in two transit buses serving the Fairbanks North Star Borough beginning last winter.

-- In early 2005, ICRC partnered with Tulsa Transit in Oklahoma to operate a new transit bus solely with ultra-clean fuel. The long-term objective for the study is to run the bus with ultra-clean fuel for the duration of its service life up to overhaul, approximately six to seven years, if continuing funding can be obtained.

-- At Auburn University in Alabama, ICRC is testing ultra-clean fuel in one of six heavily loaded trucks operated at the National Center for Asphalt Technology. ICRC is conducting tests to compare the clean diesel fuel with conventional fuel in such areas as fuel economy and engine-oil degradation.

ICRC is evaluating ultra-clean fuel produced by Syntroleum Corporation using a proprietary process for converting synthesis gas (carbon monoxide and hydrogen, obtainable from a wide variety of energy resources) into syn-crude or paraffin wax. This "syn-crude" is virtually free of contaminants typically found in conventional crude oil. Syntroleum then processes the syn-crude into ultra-clean liquid fuels and other specialty products. These demonstrate the possibility that the same ultra-clean diesel fuel could be produced in the future from the vast resources of coal available in the United States, or from stranded or remote natural gas that is not accessible via the existing natural gas pipeline distribution system.

"We are pleased to have the opportunity to continue paving the path for clean fuels research by evaluating the use of ultra-clean fuel in a variety of environments," said Jim Lexo, president and CEO of ICRC. "These studies will provide valuable data about the practical applications of ultra-clean fuel as an alternative energy source, having a large potential impact on transportation across the world."

About ICRC

ICRC is a diversified technical and management services company that serves the government market. The company's core expertise lies in information technology, advanced vehicle technology, aerospace, engineering and transportation infrastructure. ICRC combines this industry expertise with a strong track record in project management, research, testing, analysis, purchasing and implementation. The company's corporate office is located in Alexandria, VA, and it also maintains offices in Chantilly, VA, Detroit, MI, Huntsville, AL, Vicksburg, MS, and Anchorage, AK.