The initiative will harness leading-edge data and analytics to support the development of camelina as a sustainable renewable fuel feedstock
EarthDaily Agro, a division of geospatial analytics company EarthDaily Analytics, has been selected by leading renewable fuel developer Global Clean Energy Holdings, Inc. and its subsidiary Sustainable Oils, Inc. to support the work to increase the adoption of camelina in the renewable fuels marketplace through their Climate-Smart Camelina Project.
The multi-year contract is made possible by a $30 million U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Climate-Smart Commodities Grant, which was awarded to Global Clean Energy for the purposes of developing camelina as an ultra-low carbon renewable fuel feedstock and building associated climate-smart renewable fuels markets. The initial project will focus on the Western U.S., with plans to expand to other regions of the world deemed suitable for camelina production. Because camelina has not historically been a widely cultivated crop, EarthDaily Agro will produce the first full-cycle economic viability and production yield dataset to serve as the basis for mainstream cultivation and renewable fuel production.
“Global Clean Energy and Sustainable Oils are recognised leaders in the expanding renewable fuels industry, and EarthDaily Agro is proud to partner with their innovative mission to bring new solutions to the industry,” said Dave Gebhardt, General Manager of EarthDaily Agro. “By collaborating with EarthDaily Agro, Global Clean Energy and Sustainable Oils join a growing roster of agribusiness leaders harnessing the power of Earth Observation and geospatial analytics to cultivate leading-edge business intelligence.”
“As the renewable fuels industry continues to expand, optimizing the efficiency of our production is critical for meeting growing camelina demand,” said Kevin Monk, Sustainable Oils’ Vice President of Ag Technology. “Geospatial analytics and data processing from EarthDaily Agro equip our company to make informed cultivation and commercialisation decisions to continue advancing camelina as a high-potential, low-carbon renewable fuel feedstock.”
EarthDaily Agro’s satellite-derived, scientific-grade geospatial data provides Global Clean Energy and Sustainable Oils with leading-edge change detection, yield trend modelling, carbon indexing and crop cycle detection. Through the technology, EarthDaily Agro supplies informed guidance to help current camelina growers maximise yields, as well as economic and agronomic feasibility information to increase camelina adoption among additional growers. In 2024, EarthDaily will launch a new Constellation providing enhanced data for vegetation, water, atmosphere and soil to its ag customers such as Global Clean Energy.
“With the ability to grow on otherwise idle acres, camelina can produce renewable fuel feedstock without causing land use change — and worldwide, more than 100 million camelina opportunity acres exist,” Monk said. “This climate-smart fuel alternative has the potential to energize the growing renewable fuels sector, simplify global supply lines for critical commodities like renewable diesel, reinforce domestic energy supply chains, and provide additional revenue for farmers.”
