Aemetis, Inc. announces the California Energy Commission (CEC) has issued a Notice of Proposed Award (NOPA) for a $5 million grant to the Aemetis Riverbank cellulosic ethanol biorefinery.
The CEC grant program provides California state funding support for projects that reduce air pollution, improve the environment, and lower carbon emissions.
The CEC grant will support the state's goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and chronic air pollution in California's Central Valley through Aemetis' conversion of waste orchard wood, which could otherwise be burned and released into the air, into low carbon biofuel at the planned Aemetis Riverbank plant.
"This $5 million CEC grant supports the work essential to the construction of the Aemetis Riverbank plant to produce below zero carbon biofuels from waste biomass that could otherwise be burned," says Eric McAfee, Chairman and CEO of Aemetis.
The Aemetis Riverbank project was selected as the "#1 Waste-to-Value Project" in 2018 by Biofuels Digest, citing benefits from the conversion of waste orchard wood into valuable biofuels, the low carbon content of the biofuel produced from agricultural waste, the rise in the value of credits for low carbon fuels under the California Low Carbon Fuel Standard, and the project's 20-year feedstock supply agreement with fixed prices for 10 years.
The CEC grant is in addition to the recently announced $12.7 million sales and use tax waivers by the State of California to reduce the cost of equipment and other purchases for the construction of the Aemetis Riverbank plant.
