GCEH to get up to $30 million USDA grant to advance camelina as biobased diesel feedstock

Camelina

USDA announced Sept. 14 that Global Clean Energy Holdings Inc. was selected for participation in the Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities grant program.

The company was awarded up to $30 million for a pilot project to measure and validate the advantages of camelina as an ultra-low carbon renewable fuel feedstock.

Altogether, the program received more than 450 applications for this initial funding pool.

“Being selected for this grant signals that the advantages of camelina as a low-carbon feedstock are undeniable,” said Richard Palmer, CEO of Global Clean Energy. “Camelina is a nonfood crop grown on fallow land between traditional crop cycles so as not to contribute to land-use change, while producing ultra-low carbon renewable fuels that act as a drop-in replacement for their petroleum-based alternatives. This funding from the USDA will help us accelerate farmer adoption of camelina, which will improve soil conditions on existing farmland and help reduce the negative impacts of climate change.”

The USDA’s cost-share grant is aimed at reducing American agriculture’s carbon footprint.

2021 GCEH Montana camelina harvesting (Photo: Business Wire)

According to the USDA’s announcement, Global Clean Energy’s Climate-Smart Camelina pilot project will “accelerate farmer adoption of camelina as a nonfood crop grown on idle acres to produce more plant-based feedstock for renewable biofuels and chemicals with low carbon intensity and no land-use change while increasing carbon capture in the soil.”

Global Clean Energy owns the world’s largest camelina patent and intellectual property portfolio.

Its wholly owned subsidiary, Sustainable Oils Inc., contracts directly with farmers to grow camelina in key regions of the U.S. including Idaho, Colorado, Kansas, Montana, Oregon and Washington.

Camelina grain is grown for use as the source for Global Clean Energy’s ultra-low carbon renewable fuels produced from its Bakersfield Renewable Fuels refinery in California.

The USDA Climate-Smart Commodities announcement can be accessed here.