On Feb. 4, Aemetis Inc. announced that the California Energy Commission has issued a notice of proposed award (NOPA) for a $5 million grant to support the company’s proposed 12 MMgy cellulosic ethanol plant under development in Riverbank, California.

According to Aemetis, the CEC grant program provides California state funding support to projects that reduce air pollution, improve the environment, and lower carbon emissions. The company said the CEC grant will support the state’s goals to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and chronic air pollution in California’s Central Valley through Aemetis’ conversion of waste orchard wood into low carbon fuel at the Riverbank facility.

“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,” stated Eric McAfee, Chairman and CEO of Aemetis.

The Riverbank cellulosic project will combine LanzaTech’s gas fermentation technology in InEcTec’s arc furnace gasification technology to produce cellulosic ethanol. 

Aemetis has made several announcements regarding the Riverbank project in recent weeks. In mid-January, the company announced that the California Alternative Energy and Advanced Transportation Financing Authority awarded the Riverbank project an exclusion for the payment of California sales and use taxes valued at $12.7 million. 

Later in January, Aemetis announced that the U.S. Customs and Immigration Service issued an I-924 Exemplar Approval for its $50 million EB-5 Phase II Funding related to the Riverbank project. The company said the I-924 Exemplar Approval will allow Eb-5 investors to receive faster processing of their EB-5 documents. The company also noted that three EB-5 investors filed with the USCIS and funded $1.5 million of the Aemetis project in December to launch the $50 million EB-5 Phase II funding round.