Yosemite Clean Energy wins $1M for biomass-to-hydrogen projects

Yosemite Clean Energy was selected to receive two $500,000 Forest Biomass to Carbon-Negative Biofuels grants from the California Department of Conservation. The DOC grant program is a vote of confidence for forest biomass to biofuels projects in the state and will increase the pace and scale of biofuels development. The projects funded under the program will support sustainable forest stewardship within California that will help reduce the risk of wildfires and provide zero-emission, carbon-negative fuels for the transportation industry.

Yosemite’s applications were scored #1 and #2 out of the eight projects selected to receive funding, as Yosemite is positioned as a leader in hydrogen biofuel development. The first grant will support Yosemite’s flagship project in Oroville, California, and will help bring Yosemite to a final investment decision; the plant will produce 24 tons of renewable hydrogen per day. The second grant will support preliminary engineering for Yosemite’s Tuolumne County hydrogen project.

This grant is the first round in a two-phase grant program, with the second phase giving two to four awards of between $10 and $20 million to construct projects. As stated on the Program website, The DOC received a $50M budget allocation in FY21-22 focused specifically on creating carbon-negative hydrogen and/or liquid fuel from forest biomass within the Sierra Nevada. The DOC has worked closely with both the California Air Resources Board the California Energy Commission, and the Natural Resources Agency, CalFire, IBank, the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research, and the Sierra Nevada Conservancy to develop the grant program.