Description

The California Energy Commission is providing financing to the agricultural and food processing industries to purchase proven cost-effective energy efficient and renewable emerging technologies. Loans of up $500,000 are available with a fixed interest rate of 3.2%. The Energy Commission’s Public Interest Energy Research (PIER) Program and the U.S. Department of Energy examined several technologies and subjected them to comprehensive research, development and demonstration efforts under commercial working conditions. These efforts revealed several emerging technologies applicable to the agricultural and food processing industries which show great promise for reducing energy consumption in a cost-effective way. These technologies include thermal heat pumps, electrodialysis membrane systems, enterprise energy management systems, heating and cooling topping cycle systems, ultra-low NOx controlled energy efficient burners, solar photovoltaic (PV) and solar thermal systems, utilization of food and animal waste for bio-energy generation. These are the only technologies which can receive funding through this program. Eligible business entities include food and fiber processing, animal feeding and processing, breweries, wineries, creameries, irrigation districts and agricultural production. More restriction apply; see the program guidelines for complete details.