California Energy Commission cancels deal with Mendota Bioenergy

In California, amongst a notice awarding $5 million in grants for solar, hydrogen and other renewable energy projects from the California Energy Commission was an announcement that an order terminating an agreement with Mendota Bioenergy, LLC, for a project converting beets to biofuel was approved due to multiple, significant breaches of the agreement terms. In February 2013, nearly $5 million was awarded to the company for the first whole sugarbeet ethanol demonstration facility in the US. Trials from the first phase of the project were positive and the company said in March it was waiting for CEC approval to move on to phase two.