California awards 1.8M to Yokayo Biofuels for biodiesel expansion

In California, the state Energy Commission today unanimously approved funding of $1,974,330 for the expansion and upgrade of a biodiesel production facility and buy-downs of alternative-fuel vehicles.

The awards improve the environment, reduce use of foreign oil and help to fulfill the state’s pioneering climate-change policies. They are available through the Energy Commission’s Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology Program, created by Assembly Bill 118.

Yokayo Biofuels, Inc., will receive $1,860,330 to expand and upgrade its facilities, increasing its biodiesel production capacity from 1,400 gallons a day to 2,000 gallons a day using a pioneering enzymatic production process. The Ukiah-based company (Mendocino County), currently collects used fryer oil from more than 1,000 restaurants and other facilities in Northern California and converts it into biodiesel.

The pioneering enzymatic process to be used in the facility is environmentally cleaner and more efficient than current methods, and also produces a higher quality biodiesel. In addition, the process allows greater use of brown grease, typically from grease traps, which can only be used in very small quantities in traditional biodiesel production.

This biofuels project award reflects the Energy Commission’s support of the development and production of alternative fuels that reduce greenhouse gas emissions compared to conventional gasoline, while stimulating economic development. This project is expected to cost more than $4.7 million, the bulk of it in construction costs, which is expected to boost employment in the Ukiah region.