Edeniq’s Cellunator technology produces sugars by milling corn and other plant materials into “right-sized” particles of feedstock that can be more easily converted. Edeniq is installing Cellunators at Aemetis’ Keyes, California facility, which currently produces 60 million gallons of ethanol annually.

Aemetis is also one of three ethanol producers working with Edeniq on the company’s Pathway platform, a patented process that integrates enzymes with the Cellunator technology to produce cellulosic ethanol using the existing plant infrastructure. Aemetis is testing the commercial feasibility of the Pathway platform on site at their plant.

The addition of Edeniq’s technology is expected to immediately improve our ethanol yield, and allow us to produce cellulosic ethanol at commercial scale by upgrading the existing corn ethanol production facility.

—Eric McAfee, Aemetis Chairman and CEO

Edeniq owns and operates a demonstration-scale production facility in Visalia, California, which is currently converting a range of cellulosic feedstock into low-cost cellulosic sugars and cellulosic ethanol. In June, Edeniq received a $3.9-million grant from the California Energy Commission (CEC) as part of California’s Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology Program. The grant was given to Edeniq to help fund further developments and innovative enhancements to Edeniq's proprietary cellulosic ethanol technology, enabling the low capital cost addition of cellulosic ethanol production to corn-based ethanol plants in California.

Aemetis was also granted a $1.8-million grant from the CEC to test and commercialize cellulosic ethanol utilizing Aemetis’ patented microbial cellulosic enzyme technology. By deploying the two CEC grants, Edeniq and Aemetis plan to evolve the Keyes facility into a fully integrated biorefinery with cellulosic feedstock production through the testing of Edeniq and Aemetis proprietary enzymes.