The CEC Awards $29M to Advanced Biofuels Projects

Joanna Schroeder

I sometimes wonder what in the world California is thinking. I just wrote about Feinstein’s attack on biofuels in the state, yet today the state’s biofuels industry scored a victory when the California Energy Commission (CEC) announced the approval of more than $29 million for advanced biofuels projects. The CEC completed the first two years of its program funding cycle by awarding $29,675,072 to seven different projects through its Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology Program (AB 118).

“This is a major milestone for our program because it means we have awarded all $175 million from the first two years of the AB 118 program, plus another $14 million from the 2010-11 funding cycle,” said Energy Commission Vice Chair James Boyd. “We have awarded more than 82 grants, public agency agreements and program support contracts totaling $189.4 million in AB 118 funding, leveraging more than $425 million in private match funding and creating or retaining about 5,600 jobs.”

The CEC estimates that the awards will infuse more than $44.5 million into the state’s biofuels industry and they estimate that the monies will create or retain 616 construction, engineering and management jobs over the next three years. The projects range from reducing petroleum consumption and greenhouse gas emissions to providing jobs through the advancement of biofuel technology to the installation of alternative fuel infrastructure aimed at fleets.

Awardees include:

  • Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District ($3,000,000 – Match Share $2,663,175) – AC Transit will construct a new hydrogen bus fueling station in Oakland.
  • Biostar Systems ($3,372,314 – Match Share $3,372,314)  – BioStar Systems is partnering with Sonoma County Water Agency and Sonoma County Transit to produce 148,000 cubic feet per day of pipeline quality biomethane from dairy waste and food processor waste to support the Sonoma County Transit natural gas fleet.
  • South Coast Air Quality Management District ($2,600,000 – Match share $6,000,000) – The South Coast Air Quality Management District and their numerous partners will install and upgrade 11 compressed natural gas (CNG) and liquefied natural gas (LNG) fueling stations throughout Southern California.
  • USA Waste of California ($489,040 – Match Share $1,051,021)  – USA Waste will upgrade a liquefied natural gas (LNG) station in the City of Corona (Riverside County) to add storage tanks, vaporizers and dispensers that will also add compressed natural gas (CNG) to their current LNG dispensing capabilities.
  • CR&R, Inc. ($4,520,501 – Match Share $18,166,460)  – CR&R estimates that this project planned for the City of Perris in Riverside County will produce 120,000 million BTUs of pipeline quality biomethane from nonrecyclable municipal waste using a two-stage anaerobic digestion process.
  • Pixley Biogas ($4,672,798 – Match Share $4,910,925)  – Pixley Biogas intends to build an anaerobic digestion facility in the community of Pixley (Tulare County) that will process more than 36 million gallons of manure from three nearby dairies and produce biogas to be used at the adjacent Calgren Renewable Fuels ethanol biorefinery.
  • High Mountain Fuels ($11,020,419 – Match share $11,020,419) – High Mountain Fuels intends to convert renewable landfill biomethane to liquefied natural gas for use as transportation fuel at the Simi Valley landfill facility in Ventura County.
advanced biofuels, biofuels, biogas, biomethane, Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), Hydrogen, Liquefied natural gas (LNG)