Global Clean Energy Holdings acquires Madrid-based camelina firm

Global Clean Energy Holdings Inc. announced Jan. 3 that it has acquired Camelina Company España S.L., Europe’s largest camelina crop innovator and seed producer headquartered in Madrid, Spain.

According to GCEH, CCE has developed world-class intellectual property (IP) in camelina to support a sustainable biofuels value chain. CCE’s IP includes “superior genetics, breeding capabilities, high-quality planting seed, advanced agronomic research, and knowledge to support the cultivation of camelina by contract farmers,” GCEH stated. “CCE and GCEH subsidiary Sustainable Oils Inc. have been collaborating to expand and harmonize their collective research and development activities. The combined capabilities will accelerate the development of proprietary germplasm and varieties of camelina that will provide third-party contract camelina growers in North America, Western Europe and South America with additional revenue opportunities by sustainably increasing their fallow crop rotation options.”

Richard Palmer, GCEH’s president and CEO, said, “The addition of CCE to our family of companies and its synergy with Sustainable Oils further advances our goal of increasing the commercial value of camelina through improved agronomics and plant genetics. Together, CCE and Sustainable Oils will build on our combined decades of camelina research and development activities that are focused on improving yield, reducing growing time, modifying plant oil chemistry to enhance biorefinery efficiency, and improving livestock feed qualities of camelina meal. This acquisition demonstrates our ongoing commitment to investing both domestically and internationally in the science, infrastructure and farmer education necessary to deliver high-quality camelina feedstocks to satisfy the growing worldwide demand for renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuels while not displacing food crops or impacting food security. This acquisition provides an established launching pad for our rapid expansion into Europe and South America.”

CCE was established in 2010 and in 2013 became the first global company to receive a sustainability certification from the Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials, according to GCEH. CCE has supplied sustainable and certified camelina oil for SAF production and the company maintains an ongoing plant breeding program with more than 600 camelina germplasm lines and owns nine proprietary camelina varieties.

“We are excited by the significant synergies that exist between CCE, GCEH and Sustainable Oils,” said Yuri Herreras Yambanis, director of CCE. “Combining the knowledge and expertise of our organizations provides us the opportunity to further advance camelina research and production in ways that deliver profitable and sustainable advantages for both regenerative agriculture and the renewable fuels industry.”

According to GCEH, camelina is an essential part of the feedstock plan for its “integrated farm-to-fuels strategy.” Early this year the company plans to open its newly renovated renewable diesel facility in Bakersfield, California, and supply ExxonMobil up to 220 million gallons of renewable diesel a year under long-term purchase agreements.