EDGAR 10-K Filing

Company CIK: 748790
Filing Year: 2021
Filename: 748790_10-K_2021_0001520138-21-000195.json

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ITEM 1. BUSINESS
ITEM 1. BUSINESS.
Overview
Global Clean Energy Holdings, Inc. (“GCEH”) is a uniquely positioned renewable fuels company that is vertically integrated from farm to finished fuels. We differentiate ourselves by owning assets that anchor both ends of the cost and value chain, from plant sciences development, farming of plants for feedstocks, to the refining and distribution of renewable diesel and other renewable products. Our upstream assets consist of a portfolio of intellectual properties that we have developed over 14 years related to nonfood based crops that are dedicated to the production of renewable fuels. Our intellectual property includes patents in plant genetics, agronomics and cultivation know-how, and a number of strategic and targeted regulatory approvals. Our downstream business consists of a refinery in Bakersfield, California (the “Bakersfield Biorefinery”) that is currently being refurbished as a biorefinery, and marketing and distribution agreements for the renewable fuels that we will produce at our Bakersfield Biorefinery . We also have contracted for the use of key midstream assets for the separation, handling, consolidation, storage, and transportation of our Camelina based feedstock which will be used in the production of renewable fuels at the Bakersfield Biorefinery. This integrated farm-to-fuel platform is a core differentiator from our peer group.
Our strategy has been consistent since we began our biofuels business in 2007; control the full vertical integration of our supply chain from development and cultivation of ultra-low carbon nonfood based feedstocks, to the production and sale of the ultra-low carbon finished renewable fuel products. By sourcing our feedstocks directly from farmers, we control the quality and priority of production, eliminate the intermediaries and produce a true “cost-based” feedstock that is not subject to the supply limitations and uncertainties or the market volatility of food based feedstocks. As part of our business strategy, we have entered into strategic agreements along the entire supply chain, from plant genetics, crop production, transportation and logistics to the sale of our self-produced finished renewable fuel products. This strategy allows us to rapidly scale our business. One of our primary strategic partnerships is with ExxonMobil Oil Corporation, which provides us access to ExxonMobil’s world-wide wholesale and retail markets, to monetize the fuels produced at our Bakersfield Biorefinery.
The greatest challenge to the wide adoption of renewable fuels is the limited availability of the plant oils and animal fats that are the feedstock of renewable fuels. The feedstock represents between 75% and 85% of the cost of fuel production with the vast majority of all biofuels produced from a finite supply of food-based plant oils and grains, such as corn for ethanol, or soybean oil or animal fats for biodiesel, renewable diesel or renewable jet fuel. Our business model increases the total volume of feedstocks available in the market, which we will use in our own refinery, thereby reducing our costs. By utilizing our self-produced feedstock we will not be required to compete with other refineries for the finite amount of other food-based feedstocks.
Our integrated biofuels platform combines our internal plant science research and development with collaborations with leading public academic institutions, private researchers, farmers and cooperative partnerships for crop production, and other strategic relationships for product sales and distribution. Our intellectual property rights around feedstock production know-how are primarily held by Sustainable Oils, Inc. (“SusOils”), our wholly owned plant science agricultural subsidiary, and our renewable fuels production facility (the Bakersfield Biorefinery) that is owned by our Bakersfield Renewable Fuels, LLC subsidiary.
SusOils is a plant science, crop development company with an industry leading portfolio of intellectual property, regulatory approvals and deployment experience for novel varieties of Camelina sativa (“Camelina”). SusOils is engaged in the development of new and enhanced varieties of Camelina intended to advance key agronomic, genotype and phenotype attributes of the crop. SusOils currently holds 18 issued patents or pending patent applications. SusOils was also granted a first-of-its-kind feedstock-only pathway by the California Air Resources Board (“CARB”) for the production of renewable fuels under the Low Carbon Fuel Standard (“LCFS”) produced from its proprietary Camelina varieties. No other Camelina-based feedstock has been approved by CARB under LCFS.
We are currently farming our enhanced proprietary varieties of Camelina which will be refined into renewable diesel (“RD”) and other renewable fuels at our Bakersfield Biorefinery. The RD will be sold through our relationship with ExxonMobil Oil Corporation.
Camelina is a fast-growing, low input crop traditionally grown in rotation with wheat and other row crops. Camelina allows farmers to improve total farm economics through better overall asset utilization. As a dryland farmed rotational crop, Camelina does not displace food or create indirect land use change, which makes it unique as an ultra-low carbon intensity feedstock.
GCEH acquired a crude oil refinery in Bakersfield California in May 2020 that is now owned by a GCEH wholly-owned subsidiary which owns Bakersfield Renewable Fuels, LLC (“BKRF”). BKRF’s crude oil refinery is being retooled and refurbished into a biorefinery which is expected to be completed in early 2022. Once complete, the Bakersfield Biorefinery will produce renewable diesel from both SusOils’ proprietary Camelina as well as a traditional slate of renewable feedstocks such as vegetable oils, waste fats, and greases. The Bakersfield Biorefinery will be the largest renewable fuels facility in the western United States, the second largest in the entire United States, and the largest in the country that produces renewable fuels from nonfood feedstocks. Our integrated farm-to-fuel supply chain differentiates us from most other biorefinery companies in the market today.
Organizational History and Current Organizational Structure
GCEH is incorporated in the State of Delaware. GCEH’s principal executive offices are located at 2790 Skypark Drive, Torrance, California, Los Angeles County, California 90505, and its current telephone number at that address is (310) 641-GCEH (4234). GCEH maintains a website at: www.gceholdings.com. GCEH’s annual reports, quarterly reports, current reports on Form 8-K and amendments to such reports filed or furnished pursuant to section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), and other information related to the Company are available on GCEH’s website and on the website of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) at www.sec.gov. GCEH’s internet website and the information contained therein, or connected thereto, is not, and is not intended to be incorporated into this Annual Report.
Summary of Recent Developments
SusOils Patent Applications. Since October 2020, our SusOils subsidiary has filed seven additional patent applications with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, consisting of six utility patent applications for new varieties of Camelina, and a provisional patent application for improved Camelina plant oil use and production. Since October 2020 SusOil has also applied for protection under the Plant Variety Protection Act (PVPA) for its six new Camelina varieties. These new applications are in addition to the issued patents on Camelina and other intellectual properties owned by SusOils. See, “Item 1. Business-Technology and Patents,” below.
Reverse Stock Split. As approved by its shareholders in November 2020, GCEH filed an amendment to its Certificate of Incorporation that on March 26, 2021 implemented a 1-for-10 reverse stock split of GCEH’s Common Stock. As a result of the reverse stock split, each ten shares of GCEH’s issued and outstanding Common Stock were automatically combined and converted into one share of Common Stock, without any change in par value per share. As a result of the stock split, the number of shares of Common Stock outstanding on March 26, 2021 decreased from approximately 374,367,000 to approximately 37,437,000. The reverse stock split only affected the issued shares and did not change the total number of authorized shares. All Common Stock and per share information (other than par value) contained in this Annual Report has been adjusted to reflect the foregoing reverse stock split.
OTCQB Venture Market. On December 29, 2020, GCEH was notified by the OTC Markets that the GCEH shares were approved for trading on the OTCQB Venture Market. Accordingly, since the beginning of this year, GCEH’s shares of common stock have been trading on the OTCQB Venture Market.
Business Operations-Strategy
The Company’s overall business plan remains focused on the vertical integration of the complete biofuels supply chain. The foundation of this approach is to develop proprietary feedstock technology that sets us apart from the industry. Since the commencement of our renewable fuels business more than 14 years ago, we have been focused on the development and commercialization of feedstocks and feedstock-related intellectual property. Over the last three years we have been pursuing the final piece with the integration of a biorefinery. This integrated approach allows us to control our own feedstock cost and supply, produce additive feedstock volume into a structurally undersupplied market, and scale the business with margin protection and feedstock supply certainty.
A major factor limiting the adoption of renewable fuels is the limited availability of the plant oils and animal fats that are the feedstock of renewable fuels. Currently, most biofuels are produced from a finite supply of food-based plant oils or grains, and from animal fats. Our strategy is to produce a non-food based oil from our proprietary varieties of Camelina that is purpose grown by our contracted farmers for use in our own biorefinery. By contracting with third party farmers to produce extra feedstock for use in our own refinery, we will have the ability to control the cost, quality and the quantity of most of the feedstock to be used at the Bakersfield Biorefinery.
Our feedstock centric approach produces nonfood-based plant oils that are derived from plants grown on fallow land. The production of our Camelina feedstock does not limit or otherwise impact the production of food crops, but instead frees up land for food production that otherwise would be used to produce food crops (such as corn and soybeans) for biofuels.
Our path forward includes the further development of our technology to produce greater volumes of purpose grown feedstock, improved genetics to increase overall yield per acre, and improved plant oil chemistry to enhance biorefinery efficiency. Our integrated biofuels platform combines our internal plant science research and development with collaborations with leading public academic institutions, private researchers, farmers and cooperative partnerships for crop production, and other strategic relationships for product sales and distribution.
The integrated farm-to-fuel platform is data driven, scalable and a core differentiator from our peer group. Access to detailed data regarding all aspects of our farming process allows us to provide the data needed to certify the ultra-low carbon intensity of our fuels. By utilizing big data analytics across all aspects of our research and development, feedstock production, logistics, and processing (biorefining), we gain insights that provide opportunities to improve efficiencies and create other advantages compared to other feedstocks. Our focus is to directly impact the entire production process to reduce the carbon intensity of our fuels, reduce costs, and improve bottom line margins. The integrated and data driven platform will facilitate our goal of “Driving to Zero” across all areas of the business, in particular the carbon intensity of our fuels.
To further dis-intermediate the market for biofuels, following initial start-up of our biorefinery, we plan to co-locate agricultural and alternative energy technologies within our over 500 acre Bakersfield Biorefinery site by hosting both agricultural processing assets and biofuels production assets on the same site. When complete, this co-location strategy will be the first of its kind, allowing all the facilities to optimize operations, energy utilization, and logistics capacity directly in the market we serve. The co-location and integration of these systems should result in significant operating efficiencies, utility savings and other overall synergies across both the biorefinery and agricultural operations. Integrating these operations is expected to lower our cost of production while generating higher value, lower carbon products.
Acquisition and Financing of Bakersfield Renewable Diesel Biorefinery
On May 7, 2020 we acquired an existing crude oil refinery in Bakersfield, California (the “Refinery Acquisition”). As described elsewhere in this Annual Report, we are currently retooling and upgrading the refinery’s existing infrastructure so it is capable of producing renewable diesel, a drop-in replacement for ultra-low sulfur diesel. The refinery will also produce renewable propane, renewable butane, and renewable naphtha. The Bakersfield Biorefinery is being developed to process up to approximately 15,000 barrels (630,000 gallons) per day of renewable feedstock into renewable diesel utilizing the Haldor Topsoe “HydroFlex” technology. At design capacity, the refinery is expected to produce approximately 210 million gallons per year of renewable diesel as well as other renewable co-products.
The Bakersfield refinery has over 80% of the equipment that is needed for the biorefinery on-site, including: a hydrogen plant; a hydrotreater; reactors; fired heaters; compressors; pumps; heat exchangers; and storage tanks capable of storing up to 2.7 million barrels of product. The site is fully permitted for grid power, natural gas, water treatment and disposal. The refinery also has in place much of the logistics the biorefinery will need, including a rail spur from the mainline of BNSF Railway Company’s freight railroad network, railcar facilities, pipelines and an 8-bay truck blending and loading rack. We are refurbishing or upgrading some of the equipment, including the hydrogen plant, equipment associated with the hydro-processing area, some of the storage tanks, and the automation controls. We are also making some infrastructure improvements to the rail system as well as the natural gas and other pipelines. In addition to improving and modernizing the existing equipment, we are also updating the reactors and adding additional process equipment for biorefining use. The engineering and construction of the project is expected to be completed in early 2022.
In connection with developing the new renewable fuels biorefinery, we licensed from Haldor Topsoe A/S certain proprietary processes, catalysts, and equipment designs for the hydroprocessing of natural feedstocks. We also engaged a national engineering, procurement and construction contracting firm as the primary contractor of the Bakersfield Biorefinery and other engineering firms for various refinery modifications.
In order to finance the costs of the Biorefinery Acquisition and the development, construction, and operation of the refinery, we entered into two credit facilities pursuant to which we can borrow up to a maximum aggregate amount of $365 million (the “Financing Transaction”). Since the Financing Transaction, the lenders and the Company have increased the combined credit facilities by an additional $15 million to a total of $380 million.
The Biorefinery Acquisition and Financing Transaction were completed through various subsidiaries of GCEH, each of which is currently directly or indirectly a wholly-owned or majority-owned subsidiary of GCEH. Our primary subsidiary, GCE Holdings Acquisitions, LLC (“GCE Acquisitions”), owns the Bakersfield Biorefinery through certain special purpose financing subsidiaries.
Share Purchase Agreement and Call Option Agreement
Effective as of April 29, 2019, GCE Acquisitions entered into a Share Purchase Agreement with Alon Paramount Holdings, Inc. (“Alon Paramount”) to purchase all of the issued and outstanding shares of Alon Bakersfield Property, Inc. (“ABPI”). ABPI was the owner of the Bakersfield refinery. We purchased the Bakersfield refinery for $40 million in cash. In addition, at closing we granted Alon Paramount an option right valued at $5.5 million, and assumed $43.9 million of liabilities. The liabilities assumed consist of $21.9 million of Asset Retirement Obligations (ARO) and $22 million of other environmental remediation liabilities. In connection with the Biorefinery Acquisition, we agreed to undertake certain cleanup activities at the refinery and provide a guaranty for liabilities arising from the cleanup. We obtained the funds used to pay the purchase price from funds we borrowed in the Financing Transaction described below.
Concurrently with the closing of the Biorefinery Acquisition, GCEH and GCE Acquisitions entered into a Call Option Agreement with Alon Paramount pursuant to which GCEH granted to Alon Paramount an option to purchase from GCEH up to 33 1/3% of the membership interests of GCE Acquisitions. The interest acquired upon the exercise of the option is only a financial interest in the net cash flow distributed by GCE Acquisitions after all operating expenses are paid and after all payments and distributions are made to Senior Lenders and Mezzanine Lenders. The option, if exercised, does not provide the holder with any rights to acquire or use any products produced by the Bakersfield Refinery, nor does it grant the holder any rights to manage the Bakersfield Refinery or any of our other related businesses, including our Camelina feedstock business. The option will expire on the 90th day after the refinery has commercially operated for 90 days at certain target production rates. Under the Call Option Agreement, until the expiration of the option, GCE Acquisitions has agreed to not transfer the ownership of any of its subsidiaries other than those contemplated by the Credit Agreements entered into with the Senior Lenders and the Mezzanine Lenders, or to modify or amend the certain material terms of such Credit Agreements.
Financing Transactions
In order to fund the acquisition and retooling of the Bakersfield Biorefinery, on May 4, 2020 through our newly formed special purpose subsidiaries we entered into a senior credit facility with a group of lenders (the “Senior Lenders”) and a mezzanine credit agreement with mezzanine lenders (the “Mezzanine Lenders”). The senior credit agreement provides us with a $300 million senior secured term loan facility, which amount has been increased to $313.2 million. The senior loan bears interest at the rate of 12.5% per annum, payable quarterly, is secured by all of the assets of the borrowing subsidiaries (and by the equity interests and assets of the Bakersfield Biorefinery), and matures on November 4, 2026. The mezzanine credit agreement provides us with a $65 million secured term loan facility, which has been increased to $66.8 million. The mezzanine loans bear interest at the rate of 15.0% per annum on amounts borrowed, payable quarterly, provided that we may defer interest to the extent we do not have sufficient cash to pay the interest. In addition, as additional consideration for the senior and mezzanine loans, we have agreed to grant the Senior Lenders and the Mezzanine Lenders an additional financial interest by issuing to them non-voting membership interests in our borrowing subsidiary. The mezzanine loans mature in November 2027. For additional information regarding the senior and mezzanine credit facilities, see “Item 7, Management’s Discussion And Analysis Of Financial Condition And Results Of Operations-Credit Agreements,” below.
Engineering, Procurement and Construction Agreements
GCE Acquisitions entered into an engineering, procurement and construction (“EPC”) agreement on April 30, 2020 with ARB, Inc. (“ARB”) pursuant to which ARB has agreed to provide services for the engineering, procurement, construction, start-up and testing of the Bakersfield Biorefinery, on a cost plus fee basis (subject to a guaranteed maximum price, subject to any increases for approved change orders). Effective May 7, 2020, GCE Acquisitions also entered into two other EPC agreements for the refurbishment and retooling of the facility, including the infrastructure upgrades to the rail spur and storage logistics, and the off-site work on the natural gas pipeline extension.
Haldor Topsoe A/S License
Effective October 24, 2018, GCE Acquisitions entered into a ten-year, non-exclusive, non-transferable license agreement with Haldor Topsoe A/S, a company established in Denmark that owns certain proprietary rights relating to processes, catalysts, and equipment designs for the hydroprocessing of natural and synthesized hydrocarbons. GCE Acquisitions licensed these rights in order to produce renewable diesel from organically derived feedstocks at the Bakersfield Biorefinery. Concurrently with entering into the license agreement, on October 24, 2018 GCE Acquisitions also entered into an engineering agreement with the U.S. affiliate of Haldor Topsoe to have the hydroprocessing unit designed and built at the Bakersfield Biorefinery, and a catalyst supply agreement for the purchase of the catalyst, with a design capacity of up to 15,000 barrels per day, to be used in the hydroprocessing unit. These agreements have been assigned to BKRF. The Haldor Topsoe license gives the Bakersfield Biorefinery the right to hydroprocess fats, oils and greases into renewable diesel, renewable propane and butane, and renewable naphtha.
Product Offtake Agreement
Product Off-Take Agreement. We have signed a binding Product Offtake Agreement (the “Offtake Agreement”) with ExxonMobil Oil Corporation pursuant to which ExxonMobil has committed to purchase 2.5 million barrels of renewable diesel per year (the “Committed Volume”), and we will be obligated to sell these quantities of renewable diesel to ExxonMobil. The price of the renewable diesel to be sold to ExxonMobil under the contract is based on a combination of both a fixed price and variable price. ExxonMobil’s obligation to purchase renewable diesel will last for a period of five years following the date that the Bakersfield Biorefinery commences operations. ExxonMobil has the option to extend the initial five-year term for a second five-year term. Either party may terminate the Offtake Agreement if the Bakersfield Biorefinery does not meet certain production levels by certain milestone dates following the commencement of the Bakersfield Biorefinery’s operations.
Control, Operation and Management Agreement
In order to operate and manage the Bakersfield Biorefinery, we formed GCE Operating Company, LLC, a new wholly-owned subsidiary of GCEH. On May 4, 2020, the Bakersfield Biorefinery entered into a Control, Operation and Maintenance Agreement (“COMA”) with GCE Operating Company, whereby GCE Operating Company will provide all necessary services required to supervise the construction of the Bakersfield Biorefinery and, after the completion of construction, to operate and maintain the Bakersfield Biorefinery. The COMA may be terminated by either party at any time for any reason. GCE Operating Company will be reimbursed for its services under the COMA.
Sustainable Oils License Agreement
Camelina is expected to be the primary biofuels feedstock used to produce renewable diesel at the Bakersfield Biorefinery. Sustainable Oils, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of GCEH (“SusOils”), holds our Camelina intellectual properties and operates our Camelina business that supports GCEH’s vertically integrated renewable fuels business. The shortage of feedstocks currently available for renewable fuels continues to create cost volatility that we believe can be hedged through SusOils’ purpose grown Camelina crop deployment. This shortage, combined with the worldwide pressure towards limiting the use of food-based feedstocks for the production of fuel, will continue to increase the demand for additive and ultimately replacement nonfood-based feedstocks like SusOils’ Camelina oil. GCEH’s renewable fuels business is expected to benefit from the shifting sentiment against using food-based crops for fuel and in favor of increased use of nonfood ultra-low carbon feedstocks (such as Camelina). SusOils owns multiple issued and pending patents on enhanced varieties of Camelina. SusOils has agreed to provide Camelina oil based feedstock for use at the Bakersfield Biorefinery through a ten-year license agreement with BKRF. The SusOils license grants BKRF the limited right to process, refine, produce, market and sell Camelina oil biofuels that are derived from SusOils’s patented varieties of Camelina in North America. Under the license agreement, SusOils also grants the Bakersfield Biorefinery a non-exclusive, non-sublicensable, royalty-free license to use the name “Sustainable Oils” and the Sustainable Oils logo to identify its Camelina-based biofuel as a product of SusOils’s proprietary Camelina varieties. SusOils will manage all the Camelina production operations and agricultural activities needed for the deployment of Camelina as a purpose grown crop for the Bakersfield Biorefinery. Such activities include identifying and assisting farmers to grow the SusOils Camelina varieties.
In consideration for the rights granted under the SusOils license agreement, BKRF has agreed to pay SusOils a royalty based on the number of pounds of SusOils Camelina used at the Bakersfield Biorefinery. In the event that the Bakersfield Biorefinery does not purchase all of the Camelina produced for SusOils in any growing season, SusOils retains the right to market and sell any such excess Camelina. The license is a non-exclusive license, and SusOils will continue to have the right to produce its own crop independent of the Bakersfield Biorefinery.
Camelina Farming Operations
SusOils has been the leader in the development and regulatory approval of Camelina for over a decade. SusOils currently is a wholly-owned subsidiary of GCEH. However, SusOils has issued a non-transferable warrant to a strategic partner for the purchase of 8% of SusOils’s outstanding capital stock. The warrant expires on June 1, 2021 and is exercisable for a purchase price of $20 million.
In 2013, Camelina was approved as an advanced biofuel feedstock and was granted a pathway under the United States’ EPA Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program enabling it to produce D4 or D5 Renewable Identification Numbers (“RINs”) from biodiesel, renewable diesel, jet fuel, heating oil, naphtha and LPG. The EPA’s evaluation confirmed Camelina, and its co-products met the emissions reduction thresholds prescribed in 40 CFR § 80.1426 of the RFS. As a result of the approval, Camelina is at a competitive advantage over other oilseed crops with an RFS pathway.
SusOils applied for and was granted a first-of-its-kind pathway from CARB in 2016. The feedstock-only approval applies to SusOils patented Camelina varieties only and must be combined with a biorefinery pathway like BKRF’s to produce a full well-to-wheels carbon intensity. When registered as a fuels pathway, Camelina-based renewable diesel’s carbon intensity is anticipated to be at or below that of other competitors.
In 2020 SusOils commenced its commercial Camelina crop production and produced enough Camelina grower (certified) seed for the 2021 planned Camelina plantings. In 2020, SusOils also expanded its research acreage to approximately 1,500 acres. SusOils will control certified Camelina seed production and development, and has entered into business arrangements for the cultivation, production, storage and transportation of the Camelina feedstock. As of the date of this Annual Report, commercial production of Camelina grain and certified seed for the 2021 harvest is ongoing in Idaho, Montana, Kansas, Oregon and Colorado.
SusOils owns the intellectual property and related know-how for Camelina cultivation. SusOils also is directly involved in the application and funding of various research programs related to improving the growing characteristics, oil content, yields and chemistry of Camelina.
Camelina Certified Seed & Planned Acreage Summary
Calendar Year Certified Seed (contracted or
planned) Acerage Targeted Commercial Acreage
1,150 (under production) up to 110,0001
2,200 -2,700 (planned) up to 250,0002 +
Notes:
1. The Company has enough certified seed for grain production for this number of acres.
2. The Company has enough certified seed production acreage in 2021 for grain production for this number of acres in 2022.
The number of pounds of Camelina grain that can be produced per acre of farmland will vary based on a number of factors (including the variety of SusOils Camelina that is planted), and can range from an estimated 1,500 pounds per acre to 2,500 pounds per acre. The following table is an approximation of the expected average amount of oil, meal, renewable diesel equivalents, and other renewable products that can be produced per acre based on the number of pounds of Camelina grain that an acre produces.
Metrics of Camelina Grain Produced to Renewable Products
Grain Production per acre (lbs/acre)1 1,500 2,000 2,500
Oil produced per acre @ 40% (lbs/acre) 2 1,000
Oil produced per acre (gal/acre) 3
Meal Feed produced (lbs/acre) 4 1,160 1,450
Renewable Diesel Equiv. per acre (gal/acre)5
Other Renewable Products .(gal)6 Renewable Propane,/Butane & Naphtha 10.6 11.4 17.3
Notes:
1. Assumes a range of 1,500-2,500 lbs of camelina oilseed (grain) produced
2. Assumes ~40% seed oil content
3. Assumes 7.5 lbs of Camelina Oil per gallon
4. Assumes 58% biomass (meal) content includes a 2% processing loss
5. Assumes an 94% feedstock to renewable diesel conversion
6. Assumes an overall feedstock to total product conversion of 107%, less renewable diesel fraction
Our goal is to significantly expand Camelina certified seed and grain production in 2021, 2022 and thereafter. Under current yields and normal weather patterns, we expect that the certified seed produced from one acre of certified Camelina can plant up to 200 to 230 acres of our enhanced varieties of Camelina grain. Prior to the 2021 growing season, we paid farmers to grow our Camelina on a per-planted acre basis. Currently, we sell our certified Camelina seed to the growers/farmers and we contract with them on a time sensitive, minimum stand basis and pay them on a per pound of harvested grain basis. We expect our revenues from Camelina seed sales in 2021 to exceed $1 million and to thereafter increase based on the increased acreage under production.
Based on our on-going Camelina research and development efforts that both increase the yield and improve cultivation efficiencies, we expect that yields per acre will increase in the future, and that more Camelina oil will be extracted from the Camelina seed. Accordingly, although we have based our production estimates on the existing yield, we believe our Camelina yield conversion ratios will continue to improve over the next several years.
Principal Products
Renewable Diesel
The Bakersfield Biorefinery will produce renewable diesel as its primary product to be sold into the transportation sector. The design of the facility indicates that over 90% of the refined products produced at the refinery will be renewable diesel and the balance will be other renewable diesel co-products, such as renewable naphtha, renewable propane, and renewable butane.
Renewable diesel is made from the same feedstocks as biodiesel, but a variety of favorable qualities distinguish it as a superior fuel, causing it to carry a price premium to biodiesel. To make renewable diesel, feedstocks such as Camelina, used cooking oil, tallow, or various vegetable oils, are hydrotreated and isomerized to produce a fuel chemically identical to fossil diesel but with less contaminants. Since renewable diesel is chemically identical to fossil diesel, it can utilize the same infrastructure and can function as a drop-in, 100% replacement for fossil diesel. Renewable diesel does not need to be blended like biodiesel for use in modern engines on the road today. Also, renewable diesel does not experience the cold weather performance, water absorption, or microbial growth issues of biodiesel. Finally, because of lower levels of contaminants, renewable diesel burns cleaner than fossil diesel, reducing emissions by up to 85% as well as reducing engine maintenance issues.
Biofuels Oil Feedstock
Our goal is to use Camelina as our primary feedstock at the Bakersfield Biorefinery. The feedstock oil needed to produce renewable jet, biodiesel, renewable diesel and hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) that is currently available on the market today is primarily supplied from edible seed oils, including soy, canola (rapeseed), sunflower and palm. There are other types of feedstock that can be converted into biofuels, like animal fats and recycled cooking grease. Until our Camelina production ramps up to significant levels, we will also produce renewable fuels at the Bakersfield Biorefinery from other seed oils, animal fats, recycled cooking grease and other types of feedstocks. However, our goal is to have Camelina oil produced from SusOils’ patented Camelina varieties become the primary source of our biofuels feedstock. The significant advantages of Camelina over other traditional oilseed crops are that it is ultra-low carbon and does not compete for resources with other crops grown primarily for food consumption. We expect to supply only 10% of the refinery’s feedstock requirement with Camelina oil during the first production year (2022). The amount of Camelina oil used in the biorefinery is expected to significantly increase in later years as Camelina cultivation increases. The actual amount of Camelina oil that we will supply to the Bakersfield refinery in 2022 and thereafter will depend on the number of acres of Camelina planted in 2021, 2022 and thereafter. We will start our refinery production primarily using soybean oil or other organically derived feedstocks.
Camelina sativa is a member of the mustard family, a distant relative to canola, and a relatively new and attractive entrant into the biofuels feedstock sector. Camelina plants are heavily branched, growing from one to three feet tall and have branched stems that become woody as they mature. As the reproductive cycle progresses, seed pods form which contain many relatively small, oily seeds. Because there is no seed dormancy in Camelina, it can be grown in multiple seasons and has a very short maturity curve.
Camelina can produce seeds with relatively little water and can be harvested early. It is classified as a low input crop and can survive on low water/rainfall, and less fertilizer than many other crops. Camelina can be seeded and harvested with conventional farm equipment, making it a perfect rotation crop for farmers.
Camelina seeds typically contain between 35-42% oil and are high in omega-3 fatty acids. This makes the oil very desirable for biofuels production. The meal left after the oil has been removed is a replacement option for livestock and poultry feed, competing directly with soy and canola meal.
SusOils’ patented seed varieties perform reliably across a diverse range of agronomic settings and produce reliable yields, oil content, height, chemical composition as well as protein and fiber content.
Biomass Feedstock
Camelina produces a co-product from the oil extraction process which is a high protein meal that has been tested and approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a livestock (animal) feed for cattle, poultry and pigs. This provides additional revenue and reduces the net production cost of Camelina oil, further improving feedstock economics.
Emissions Reduction Regulations
In response to anthropogenic climate change, intergovernmental organizations like the United Nations and World Bank, as well as numerous governments, supranational organizations, like the European Union, and sub-national actors, like California and British Columbia, have implemented regulations to curtail the production of greenhouse gas emissions. Regulations are beginning to span and interlace cap-and-trade policies, low carbon fuel standards, renewable portfolio standards and carbon taxes, as well as others. The overarching objective is greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions and associated climate change mitigation. With the exception of a carbon tax, GHG reduction schemes utilize tradable credits that represent the reduction of a certain amount of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) or the production of a certain volume of fuel.
Renewable energy and energy efficiency projects make up the bulk of mitigation and reduction strategies currently deployed around the world. Biofuels have been the cornerstone of renewable energy policies since the beginning and offer regulators, end users and consumers a unique set of attributes that include sustainability, meaningful emissions reductions and economic and energy security. Furthermore, as biofuel policies evolve, first generation feedstocks, those based on, or derived from food crops are being replaced with second generation, nonfood based crops like Camelina. Camelina is grown on fallow rotational land or in other formats that do not displace food crops. The land used is fallow or otherwise unsuitable for food crop production. The result is an avoidance of the controversial food versus fuel tradeoff currently hampering certain feedstocks development. This distinction between food and nonfood is critical as regulated markets mature and policies shift to discourage the conversion of food into fuel.
In the United States, federal legislation called the renewable fuel standard (RFS) mandates that a certain volume of biofuels are blended into the fuel supply every year. In California, the low carbon fuel standard (LCFS) requires regulated parties to reduce the overall emissions of their fuels to a predefined ceiling. In both cases, renewable fuel producers generate tradable compliance instruments, which represent either a volume of fuel or a set amount of CO2 reduction. These credits are then surrendered by regulated parties to demonstrate compliance. The RFS and LCFS require that fuels are made from approved pathways and feedstocks. Camelina has full EPA approval under the RFS to produce both D4 (biomass-based diesel) and D5 (advanced biofuel) Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs) under the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS2).
In March 2015, California (CARB) approved a first-of-its-kind feedstock-only pathway for SusOils’ patented Camelina oil. The pathway only applies to SusOils’ US Patent and Trademark Office-registered seed varieties - no other Camelina seed or oil can be used to produce LCFS compliant fuel. At a cumulative carbon intensity (CI) of 7.58 g/MJ, our processed and renewable fuels can be produced at less than 20 CI, before any CI credits for the mean are applied. The result is that fuel producers and obligated parties in California can meet their LCFS emissions reduction requirements with significantly less fuel that would otherwise be required using traditional feedstocks like soybean (53 g/MJ). LCFS credits are generated based upon the carbon intensity of the underlying fuel, which means Camelina-based fuels will generate significantly more value per gallon than any other virgin oil-based fuel. By example, if the LCFS credit price is $200 /MT of carbon, Camelina biofuels can produce more than $1.00 more per gallon than soybean-based fuel.
Technology and Patents
Camelina Sativa: SusOils’ Camelina intellectual property includes U.S. patents, U.S. and Canadian patent applications, as well as other intellectual properties including trademarks, trade secrets and know-how relating to the production and cultivation of Camelina as a biofuels feedstock. SusOils currently owns three issued U.S. patents on three Camelina varieties as well as an issued U.S. patent for a method to alter and/or improve the fatty acid composition of a Camelina plant cell. SusOils recently filed seven additional patent applications with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. These new patent applications include six utility patent applications for new varieties of Camelina, and a provisional patent application for improved Camelina plant oil use and production. SusOil has also applied for protection under the Plant Variety Protection Act (PVPA) for its six new Camelina varieties.
Jatropha: We also have considered using Jatropha curcas as a low carbon nonfood based feedstock for renewable fuels. See, “Other Renewable Fuels - Jatropha Curcas,” below. We have not yet patented any technology relating to our Jatropha operations. However, we have developed considerable know-how, trade secrets, and proprietary processes and procedures for farm development and operations management, and we own certain intellectual property related to the genetics of the Jatropha trees that were selectively bred and propagated by GCEH in its earlier Latin American operations.
Our focus is to develop technologies in the following three main categories: (i) plant and soil sciences, (ii) agricultural technology and procedure development, and (iii) material processing and end use applications. Such technologies are expected to assist in reducing costs, improving efficiency, reducing carbon intensity and allowing us to improve the value creation of our products.
Markets
Renewable Diesel. Most renewable diesel in the United States is consumed in California, due to its strong LCFS program. In 2019, almost 700 million gallons (MMGal) of renewable diesel was consumed in California, compared to approximately 900 MMGal in the United States; most of the remaining renewable diesel is consumed in Oregon under its Clean Fuels Program. Domestic production accounted for roughly 533 MMGal and 500 MMGal and foreign imports accounted for 435 MMGal and 420 MMGal in 2020 and 2019, respectively, most of foreign supply originated in Singapore. Domestic production is forecasted to increase significantly during the next five years as projects representing over two billion gallons per year of capacity have been announced by various companies; however, we only expect a portion of these projects to actually come online.
Since renewable diesel is a 100% replacement for fossil diesel, the total potential market is represented by the sum of biodiesel, renewable diesel, and fossil diesel consumption by the transportation sector, which was almost 4,000 MMGal for California in 2019. The United States transportation sector consumed 47 billion gallons in 2019. Canada will also represent an important market as it implements its own LCFS program.
Agriculture: When SusOils’ Camelina grain is processed, it is separated into neat plant oil and biomass , the latter of which is a protein rich animal feed supplement similar to canola or soybean meal. An additional benefit of our animal feed is that it is non-GMO (non-genetically modified). The market for protein meal in the western United States is roughly 17 MMTPY (million tons per year), which is supplied primarily from interior states that grow and extract row crops like soybeans. The livestock industry in California’s San Joaquin Valley, which has among the largest concentrations of cattle and dairy producers in the US, imports virtually all its portion of California’s 5.7 MMTPY of protein meal from outside its borders. Domestic production of protein meal is estimated to be 125 MMTPY, which does not include imports from other parts of the world.
Environmental Impact
Biofuels have social, economic and environmental benefits that are a major driving force behind their adoption. Using biofuels instead of fossil fuels reduces net emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses, which are associated with global climate change and adverse regional health impacts. Biofuels are produced from renewable plant resources that “recycle” the carbon dioxide created when biofuels are consumed. Life-cycle analyses consistently show that using biofuels produced in modern facilities results in net reductions of greenhouse gas compared to using fossil fuel-based petroleum equivalents. These life-cycle analyses include the well-to-wheel energy equivalent of farming and production of biomass, including harvesting, conversion, transportation and utilization. Biofuels help nations achieve their goals of reducing carbon emissions and reducing importation of foreign oil. They burn cleanly in vehicle engines and reduce emissions of unwanted products, particularly unburned hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide and particulate matter. These characteristics contribute to improvements in local air quality and all associated health benefits.
We believe there is sufficient global demand for alternative, nonfood based inedible biofuel feedstocks to allow a number of companies to successfully compete worldwide. In particular, we note that we are the only U.S.-based public company producing nonfood based inedible oils for the production of biofuels, and we are the only company with full regulatory approval for its crop, which gives us a unique competitive advantage over many foreign competitors when competing in the U.S.
The price basis for our oil and meal products is expected to be comparable, or better, to other edible oil and biomass equivalents. To date, we have not identified any substantial effort being undertaken for the commercialization of other inedible oils that could compete with Camelina in the near term. With the growing demand for plant-based feedstocks, and the high price of oil and biofuels, we anticipate that we will be able to sell our plant oils, meal and biofuels profitably.
Other Renewable Fuels-Jatropha Curcas
In 2008, we launched our first commercial venture to produce low carbon nonfood based feedstocks for renewable fuels by developing Jatropha curcas (“Jatropha”), a non-edible plant indigenous to many tropical and subtropical regions of the world, including Mexico. During the next seven years, we acquired three farms in Mexico, comprising just under 15,000 acres, and planted over eight million Jatropha trees, consisting of over 20 varieties of Jatropha trees from around the world on the farms. In 2012 GCEH filed for an EPA Pathway for Jatropha, and in 2015 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued a pathway for Jatropha oil that allows Jatropha oil to be used as a feedstock for advanced biofuels, qualifying it to generate RINs under the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS2). Although we harvested significant quantities of Jatropha fruit and seed from our Mexico Jatropha farms, many of the Jatropha varieties were susceptible to diseases, as a result of which the harvests did not meet our long term requirements for operating a commercial Jatropha only seed energy farm. As a result, we decided to pursue the commercialization of Camelina as our primary biofuel feedstock and, in December 2015, we sold our three Mexican farms. Although we sold the Mexico farms, we retained all of the rights to Jatropha varieties that we developed as well as retaining all of our other intellectual property rights to develop biofuels from Jatropha. Although we continue to believe in Jatropha as a commercially viable feedstock for producing renewable fuels, we currently are not actively pursuing any Jatropha-related projects. However, we continue to own the Jatropha-related intellectual properties that we previously developed.
Employees.
As of March 31, 2021, we had 58 full time employees, of whom 50 were located at our Bakersfield Biorefinery and eight were located at our corporate office. As of March 31, 2021, we also engaged 23 full or part-time contract employees and consultants. All of the employees who are located at the Bakersfield Biorefinery are employed by GCE Operating Company, LLC, the wholly-owned subsidiary of GCEH that operates the Bakersfield Biorefinery under the COMA. We anticipate that we will have to hire additional employees at the Bakersfield Biorefinery in the future to support our operational needs. We consider our relations with our employees to be good.

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ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS
ITEM 1A RISK FACTORS
The risks described below may not be the only ones relating to our company. Additional risks that we currently believe are immaterial may also impair our business operations. Our business, financial conditions and future prospects and the trading price of our common stock could be harmed as a result of any of these risks. Investors should also refer to the other information contained or incorporated by reference in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, including our financial statements and related notes, and our other filings from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Risks Related to Our Business
We have not completed the construction and commissioning of the Bakersfield Biorefinery. We may experience time delays, unforeseen expenses and other complications while developing the Bakersfield Biorefinery, which complications could delay the commencement of revenue-generating activities and increase our development costs.
We have entered into a binding turnkey agreement with guaranteed maximum price for the engineering, procurement and construction of the Bakersfield Biorefinery. The engineering and construction of the Bakersfield Biorefinery is expected to be completed, and is thereafter expected to commence operations in the first quarter of 2021. Although our primary contractors have agreed to complete the construction of the Bakersfield Biorefinery within a specified period at a maximum price to us, the construction of these kinds of facilities is inherently subject to the risks of unforeseen required change orders, regulatory issues, cost overruns and delays. In addition, the scope of the project has changed, which may also contribute to a delay in the completion of the project. Delays in the development beyond our estimated timelines, or amendments or change orders to the construction contract, could increase the cost of completion beyond the amounts that we have budgeted. Furthermore, while we believe that we currently hold all necessary the environmental, regulatory, construction and zoning permissions that we need for the construction of the Bakersfield Biorefinery, no assurance can be given that we will not be required to obtain additional regulatory and land use approvals, which additional regulatory approvals may delay the commencement of operations of the Bakersfield Biorefinery or increase its development costs. If for any reason we are unable to construct and commission the Bakersfield Biorefinery within the financial and timing requirements, our business and our expected operating results, cash flows and liquidity could be materially and adversely affected.
We have a limited operating history in commercially refining and selling biofuels, and no history in operating a renewable diesel biorefinery. Accordingly, we have no history from which an investor can reliably evaluate our business and prospects.
We have a limited operating history and track record in the biofuels market, and no history in the construction and operations of a renewable fuels biorefinery. Prior to the acquisition of the Bakersfield Biorefinery, we were an energy agri-business company focused on the development of ultra-low carbon nonfood based feedstocks for renewable fuels and chemicals in the U.S., Mexico and the Caribbean. Our strategy depends on our ability to successfully operate the Bakersfield Biorefinery and to provide the Bakersfield Biorefinery with sufficient feedstocks, particularly Camelina that is grown for the Bakersfield Biorefinery by third party farmers. However, we have no history of owning, developing, constructing or operating a renewable fuels refinery. As a result, our prior operating history and our historical financial statements may not be a reliable basis for evaluating our business prospects or the future value of our Common Stock. We cannot give you any assurance that we will be able to implement our strategy in the manner we expect, if at all, or achieve our internal business projections, or that our assumptions regarding the operations of the Bakersfield Biorefinery or the Camelina feedstock production will be accurate. Our limited operating history also means that we may have to develop and implement various alternate policies and procedures related to Bakersfield Biorefinery’s development and future operations, to our feedstock supply chain, and to other matters.
Our ability to implement our business strategy may be materially and adversely affected by many known and unknown factors.
Our business strategy relies upon our future ability to successfully operate the Bakersfield Biorefinery and to source Camelina and other feedstocks in a cost-effective manner. Our business strategy relies on numerous assumptions, which assumptions are subject to significant economic, competitive, regulatory and operational uncertainties, contingencies and risks, many of which are beyond our control. Our future ability to execute our business strategy is uncertain, and it can be expected that one or more of our assumptions will prove to be incorrect and that we will face unanticipated events and circumstances that may adversely affect our business. Among the factors that could have a material adverse effect on our ability to implement our strategy and achieve our targets are the following:
● inability to complete the construction of the Bakersfield Biorefinery on time;
● inability to complete the construction of the Bakersfield Biorefinery for the anticipated cost and within our available financial resources;
● inability to source feedstock for the Bakersfield Biorefinery, including Camelina, in sufficient quantities and/or at economically attractive prices;
● failure to manage third party Camelina cultivation operations at the expected cost and in the projected time frame;
● inability to enter into profitable energy-related transactions as part of our biofuels sales and trading operations, and to optimally price and manage position, performance and counterparty risks;
● failure of our licensed proprietary technology to perform as expected;
● changes in existing and future governmental laws and regulations affecting the energy markets in general, and the renewable energy markets in particular;
● changes in general economic, political and business conditions in the U.S., particularly those that affect the energy and renewable fuels markets;
● increases in operating costs, including the need for additional or unexpected capital improvements, insurance premiums, general taxes, real estate taxes and utilities, and other costs affecting our profit margins;
● public health crises, such as the coronavirus outbreak that began in early 2020, which could impact global economic conditions; or
● inability, or failure, of any customer or contract counterparty to perform their contractual obligations to us.
A termination of the ExxonMobil Oil Corporation Product Offtake Agreement would negatively affect our future marketing and sales of renewable diesel and would trigger an event of default under our two credit facilities.
Under the Offtake Agreement that we entered into with ExxonMobil Oil Corporation, ExxonMobil has agreed to purchase 2.5 million barrels of renewable diesel per year from the Bakersfield Biorefinery for a period of five years following the date that the Bakersfield Biorefinery commences operations. ExxonMobil has the option to extend the initial five-year term. Either party may terminate the Offtake Agreement if the Bakersfield Biorefinery does not meet certain production levels by the end of the first and second six-month periods following the commencement of the Bakersfield Biorefinery’s operations. In addition, ExxonMobil can terminate the Offtake Agreement if the construction of the biorefinery is not completed by a specified date. In addition, termination of the Offtake Agreement could constitute an event of default under the credit agreements that provide us with $380 million of financing from our Senior Lenders and Mezzanine Lenders. Our obligations under the credit agreements are secured by a security interest in all of the assets at the Bakersfield Biorefinery and by all of the assets and ownership interests of our subsidiaries that owns the Bakersfield Biorefinery.
We are dependent on our contractors for the successful completion of the Bakersfield Biorefinery.
The construction of most of the Bakersfield Biorefinery has been outsourced to a primary contractor under a guaranteed maximum price engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract, but certain other contractors have also been engaged by us to, among other things, construct and refurbish railroad tracks through the Bakersfield Biorefinery and to install underground pipelines. Our business strategy is highly dependent on our contractors’ performance under their agreements with us. Our contractors’ ability to perform successfully under their contracts is dependent on a number of factors, including their ability to:
● design and engineer the Bakersfield Biorefinery to operate in accordance with specifications;
● engage and retain third-party subcontractors and procure equipment and supplies;
● respond to difficulties such as equipment failure, delivery delays, schedule changes and failure to perform by subcontractors, some of which are beyond their control;
● attract, develop and retain skilled personnel, including engineers;
● post required construction bonds and comply with the terms thereof;
● manage the construction process generally, including coordinating with other contractors and regulatory agencies; and
● maintain their own financial condition, including adequate working capital.
Although our primary EPC contract provides for liquidated damages if the contractor fails to perform in the manner required with respect to certain of its obligations, the events that trigger a requirement to pay liquidated damages may delay or impair the operation of our Bakersfield Biorefinery, and any liquidated damages that we receive may not be sufficient to cover the damages that we suffer as a result of any such delay or impairment. Furthermore, we may have disagreements with our contractors about different elements of the construction process, which could lead to the assertion of rights and remedies under their contracts and increase the cost of the project or result in a contractor’s unwillingness to perform further work on the project. If any contractor is unable or unwilling to perform according to the negotiated terms and timetable of its respective agreement for any reason or terminates its agreement, we would be required to engage a substitute contractor. Any of the foregoing events would likely result in significant project delays and increased costs.
We may incur significant costs complying with environmental laws and regulations, and failure to comply with these laws and regulations could expose us to significant liabilities.
We believe that we currently hold the requisite regulatory approvals to construct and to thereafter operate the Bakersfield Biorefinery. Although we have implemented safety procedures for the operation of the Bakersfield Biorefinery and the disposal of waste products to comply with these laws and regulations, we cannot be sure that our safety measures are compliant or capable of eliminating the risk of accidental injury or contamination from the use, generation, manufacture, or disposal of hazardous materials. In the event of contamination or injury, we could be held liable for any resulting damages, and any liability could exceed our insurance coverage. There can be no assurance that violations of environmental, health and safety laws will not occur as a result of human error, accident, equipment failure or other causes.
Compliance with applicable environmental laws and regulations may be expensive, and the failure to comply with past, present or future laws could result in the imposition of fines, regulatory oversight costs, third party property damage, product liability and personal injury claims, investigation and remediation costs, the suspension of production, or a cessation of operations. Environmental laws could become more stringent over time, requiring us to change our operations, or imposing greater compliance costs and increasing risks and penalties associated with violations, which could impair our research, development or production efforts and harm our business. Similarly, our business may be harmed if existing initiatives to further reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, which improve the competitiveness of renewable fuels relative to petrochemicals, do not become legally enforceable requirements, or if existing legally enforceable requirements relating to greenhouse gases are amended or repealed in the future. The costs of complying with environmental, health and safety laws and regulations and any claims concerning noncompliance, or liability with respect to contamination in the future could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition or operating results.
Loss of key personnel or our inability to attract and retain additional key personnel could harm our ability to meet our business objectives.
Our Bakersfield Biorefinery operations and Camelina feedstock businesses involve complex operations spanning a variety of disciplines that require a management team and employee workforce that is knowledgeable in the many areas necessary for our operations. While we have been successful in attracting certain experienced, skilled professionals to our company, we will have to identify, attract and retain a significant number of additional employees once the Bakersfield Biorefinery is operational and the Camelina cultivation expands to our projected levels. Failure to hire the qualified employees that we will need could affect operations and the future profitability of the Bakersfield Biorefinery’s operations. We are also heavily dependent upon certain of our current senior executives and upon certain key independent contractors and advisors for supervising the construction of the Bakersfield Biorefinery, the operations of the Bakersfield Biorefinery, and the implementation of our Camelina cultivation and production plan. The loss of these key employees and contractors could have a significant detrimental impact on the development and initial operations of the Bakersfield Biorefinery and on the implementation of our Camelina cultivation operations. Hiring, training and successfully integrating qualified personnel into our operation is a lengthy and expensive process. The market for qualified personnel is very competitive because of the limited number of people available with the necessary skills to operate a renewable diesel refinery, to successfully source feedstock, and to commercialize the renewable fuels that the Bakersfield Biorefinery is designed to produce. If we are not able to attract and retain the necessary personnel to accomplish our business objectives, we may experience staffing constraints that will adversely affect our future operations.
Our Camelina patents may not protect us against competition from other biofuel competitors.
An important element of our plan of operations of our Bakersfield Biorefinery is the use of Camelina oil that is derived from our patented varieties of Camelina as one of the principal feedstocks at the Bakersfield Biorefinery. We currently have three issued U.S. utility patents for varieties of Camelina as well as another issued U.S utility patent directed to methods for improving the Camelina oil. We have also filed seven additional utility patent applications, including applications for another six Camelina plant varieties and another patent application directed to methods for improving Camelina oil, in order to enhance our patent position. We have additionally filed for protection under the Plant Variety Protection Act (PVPA) for our six new Camelina varieties. Interpreting the scope and validity of patents and success in prosecuting patent applications involves complex legal and factual questions, and the issuance, scope, validity, and enforceability of a patent cannot be predicted with any certainty. Patents issued to us may be challenged, invalidated or circumvented. In addition, we cannot be certain that any of our patent applications will result in issued patents, or if issued, we cannot be certain of the validity and/or enforceability of any newly issued patents. Moreover, we cannot be sure that any of our or patent rights will be broad enough in scope to provide commercial advantage and prevent circumvention. We believe that our enhanced, patented varieties of Camelina will produce larger Camelina harvests per acre of cultivated land, and that the Camelina seeds harvested from these patented varieties have beneficial properties for the production of Camelina feedstock oil. However, our patents do not give us the exclusive right to cultivate other varieties of Camelina nor do our patents limit the right of others to use the oil from such other Camelina varieties as a biofuels feedstock. No assurance can be given that other biofuel producers will not imitate our business plan and use Camelina as a biofuel feedstock, nor do our existing patent rights prevent others from competing with us and developing substantially similar business plans.
Our Camelina operations will be dependent upon the availability of farmland, our relationship with third party farmers, and on factors affecting agricultural operations in general.
We don’t own or control any farms or farmland on which we can grow our patented varieties of Camelina. Accordingly, we are wholly dependent upon third party farmers to plant, cultivate, harvest and store the Camelina that we plan to use as feedstock for renewable diesel at the Bakersfield Biorefinery, and possible elsewhere. Our ability to obtain the amount of Camelina that we propose to use as feedstock at the Bakersfield Biorefinery therefore is dependent upon our ability to recruit a sufficient number of farmers to grow Camelina for us, to enter into mutually acceptable financial and other arrangements with the farmers that we recruit, and for those farmers to successfully grow, harvest and deliver that Camelina to us. While we have identified a number of farmers and several farm cooperatives that have expressed an interest in producing Camelina in accordance with our proposed arrangements, as of the date of this Annual Report we have not entered into a sufficient number of agreements with farmers for the production of the amount of Camelina grain that we have planned for in the Bakersfield Biorefinery. Accordingly, no assurance can be given that we will be able to develop and thereafter maintain the farming, storage and delivery arrangements necessary to produce the quantities of Camelina we plan to use at the Bakersfield Biorefinery. In addition to the risks associated with enrolling farmers in our proposed Camelina production operations, the results of those farming operations may be adversely affected by numerous factors over which we have little or no control and that are inherent in farming, including adverse weather (including but not limited to drought) and changes in growing conditions, pest and disease problems, and new government regulations regarding farming and the marketing of agricultural products.
Risks Relating to Our Financial Matters
We are a development stage company that currently has no revenues, and we do not expect to generate any meaningful revenues until the Bakersfield Biorefinery commences commercial operations.
We are a development stage company with no revenues and no operations other than those related to the construction of the Bakersfield Biorefinery and to the development of our Camelina cultivation operations. We do not expect to generate material revenues, if any, until after the Bakersfield Biorefinery has commenced commercial operations, which is not expected to occur until early 2022. We will incur significant net losses and significant capital expenditures through completion of development of Bakersfield Biorefinery. Any delays beyond the expected development period for the Bakersfield Biorefinery would prolong, and could increase the level of, our operating losses. Neither we nor our affiliates have previously ever managed the construction, operation or maintenance of a renewable diesel facility.
We have a history of net losses, and we may not achieve or maintain profitability.
We incurred net losses of $10.6 million and $11.8 million during the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively. As of December 31, 2020, we had an accumulated deficit of $66.2 million. Our Bakersfield Biorefinery will be under construction until early 2022 and will not be generating any revenues during its construction phase. Accordingly, we do not expect to generate revenues from the operations of the Bakersfield Biorefinery in 2021. We also expect to spend over $250 million between the filing of this Annual Report and the end of 2021 on the development and construction of the Bakersfield Biorefinery, on pre-operational and start-up costs, on our debt service obligations, our upstream feedstock development operating costs, and on general and administrative expenses. Furthermore, we do not expect to generate significant revenues until the Bakersfield Biorefinery becomes operational in 2022, and we expect to incur significant losses and negative cash flows until the Bakersfield Biorefinery is fully operational for some period of time. No assurance can be given that the Bakersfield Biorefinery and our related Camelina operations will be profitable once the Bakersfield Biorefinery does commence operations in early 2022.
The terms of our Credit Agreements and our other financing arrangements will significantly limit the amount of cash that is available to GCEH and our stockholders.
Under our senior and mezzanine credit agreements we can borrow an aggregate of $380 million of financing. The senior loan bears interest at the rate of 12.5% per annum, and the mezzanine loans will bear interest at the rate of 15.0% per annum on amounts borrowed. The senior loan and mezzanine loans mature in November 2026 and 2027, respectively. In addition to the loan repayment obligations under both the senior loan and mezzanine loans, one of our Bakersfield Biorefinery holding company subsidiaries, has issued membership interests (Class B Units) to the Senior Lenders and will issue membership interests (Class C Units) to the Mezzanine Lenders. The Class B Units and Class C Units membership interests provide the holders of the Class B and Class C Units with preferential cash distribution rights over the Class A Units owned by GCEH. Under the Credit Agreements and the limited liability agreement of the financing subsidiary, any excess cash from operations that the Bakersfield Biorefinery generates will first be used to make the debt service payments under the senior and mezzanine loans, and then any excess cash available after making those loan payments will be allocated among the holders of the Class A, Class B and Class C Units. The holders of the Class B Units are entitled to receive quarterly distributions of 25% of the Bakersfield Biorefinery’s free cash flow until the senior lenders have received (collectively, from these cash distributions plus principal and interest on the senior loans) an amount equal to a 2X multiple of invested capital (“MOIC”), or two times the amount of the senior loans. Since we expect that the Senior Lenders will lend us $313.2 million, the Senior Lenders will have preferential rights to receive a total of up to $626 million, and under certain circumstances for a limited period, an additional 5% of the free cash flow. The cash available for distribution after payment of the Class B Units 25% allocation will be divided by the holders of the Class C Units and the Class A Units. The holders of the Class C Units will be entitled to receive 80.0% of cash distributions until the Mezzanine Lenders have received cumulative payments (cash distributions plus principal and interests on the mezzanine loans) equal to 2.0x MOIC, which percentage decreases to 65.0% (after they have received 3.0x MOIC), 50.0% (after they have received 4.0x MOIC) and 30.0% of all cash distributions thereafter. As a result of the large debt payment obligations and the foregoing preferential cash distribution allocations to the holders of the Class B and Class C Units, the amount of cash available for distribution to GCEH and our stockholders will be significantly reduced. Accordingly, even if the Bakersfield Biorefinery’s operations generate significant profits, the amount of cash available to GCEH from the Bakersfield Biorefinery will be very limited for at least five years.
Our Bakersfield Biorefinery subsidiaries are subject to various restrictions under the Credit Agreements, and substantially all of the assets of the Bakersfield Biorefinery subsidiaries are held as security under the terms of the Credit Agreements.
The obligations under the senior and mezzanine credit agreements are secured by a security interest in all of the assets of the BKRF, and by all of the assets and securities issued by the limited-purpose, wholly-owned indirect subsidiaries of the Company. The two credit agreements contain certain customary events of default, including events relating to non-payment of required interest, principal, or other amounts due on or with respect to the Senior Loans, failure to comply with covenants within specified time frames, certain bankruptcy events, breaches of specified representations and warranties, failure of security interests to be effective, and certain judgments. In addition, on March 26, 2021 we amended the two credit agreements to require GCEH to establish an additional cash reserve of at least $35 million for BKRF. Our inability to raise at least $35 million within the time limits specified in the amendments, and to properly fund the new contingency reserve will constitute an event of default under the two credit agreements. A breach of any of the covenants under either of the credit agreements could result in an event of default. Cross-default provisions in the two credit agreements mean that an event of default under one of the credit agreements will trigger an event of default under the other credit agreement. Upon the occurrence of an event of default under any of our debt agreements, the lenders could elect to declare all outstanding debt under the credit agreements to be immediately due and payable, and the secured lenders could foreclose against all of the Bakersfield Biorefinery’s assets and the ownership interests of the various subsidiaries. A foreclosure could result in the loss of our primary asset and business, and we could be forced into bankruptcy or liquidation.
The agreements governing our indebtedness place restrictions on us and our subsidiaries, reducing operational and financing flexibility and creating default risks.
The agreements and related documents that govern our indebtedness, including but not limited to, the two credit agreements that our subsidiaries entered into on May 4, 2020, contain covenants that place restrictions on us and our subsidiaries. The credit agreements restrict among other things, our subsidiaries’ ability to:
● merge, consolidate or transfer all, or substantially all, of their assets;
● incur additional debt;
● make certain investments or acquisitions;
● create liens on our subsidiaries’ assets;
● sell assets;
● alter the businesses our subsidiaries conduct;
● make distributions; and
● enter into transactions with our other affiliated entities.
These covenants could impair our ability to grow our business, take advantage of attractive business opportunities or successfully compete. In addition, these covenants could restrict our ability to optimize our capital structure with asset-level debt or equity financings.
Risks Related to Ownership of Our Common Stock
There is a limited public trading market for our Common Stock, and you may not be able to resell your Common Stock.
Our Common Stock is traded on the OTCQB Venture marketplace, an inter-dealer, over-the-counter market that provides significantly less liquidity than national securities exchanges, such as The Nasdaq Stock Market. As a result, there is currently a limited public trading market for our securities. We cannot assure you that a regular trading market will develop or that if developed, will be sustained. If an active trading market does not develop, you may have difficulty selling your shares of Common Stock at an attractive price, or at all, which will result in the loss of your investment.
We have a stockholders deficit.
We have a history of losses and have a stockholders deficit of $28.7 million as of December 31, 2020. Additionally, we had a negative working capital of $5.8 million (which includes current restricted cash of $12.9 million) at December 31, 2020. Our history of losses and our negative working capital position could impact the value of your shares.
We cannot assure you that the Common Stock will be listed on the NASDAQ or any other securities exchange.
We intend to seek a possible listing of our Common Stock on one of the NASDAQ markets. However, we cannot assure you that we will be able to meet the initial listing standards of any of those trading platforms or any other stock exchange, or that we will be able to maintain a listing of the Common Stock on either of those or any other stock exchange. There are no assurances that an active market for our shares will develop even if we are listed on a NASDAQ market.
We are a “smaller reporting company” and we have elected to comply with certain reduced reporting and disclosure requirements which could make our Common Stock less attractive to investors.
We are a “smaller reporting company,” as defined in the Regulation S-K of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, which allows us to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not smaller reporting companies, including (1) not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, and (2) reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements. In addition, we are only required to provide two years of audited financial statements in our SEC reports. We cannot predict if investors will find our Common Stock less attractive because we may rely on these exemptions. If some investors find our Common Stock less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our Common Stock and our stock price may be more volatile. Our independent registered public accounting firm is not required to formally attest to the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting until we are no longer a “smaller reporting company”. We cannot assure you that there will not be material weaknesses or significant deficiencies in our internal controls in the future.
We have no plans to pay dividends.
To date, we have paid no cash dividends on our Common Stock. For the foreseeable future, any earnings generated from our operations will be retained for use in our business and not to pay dividends.
The application of the SEC’s “penny stock” rules to our Common Stock could limit trading activity in the market, and our stockholders may find it more difficult to sell their stock.
If our Common Stock trades at a price of less than $5.00 per share, our Common Stock will be subject to the SEC’s penny stock rules. Penny stocks generally are equity securities with a price of less than $5.00. Penny stock rules require a broker-dealer, prior to a transaction in a penny stock not otherwise exempt from the rules, to deliver a standardized risk disclosure document that provides information about penny stocks and the risks in the penny stock market. The broker-dealer also must provide the customer with current bid and offer quotations for the penny stock, the compensation of the broker-dealer and its salesperson in the transaction, and monthly account statements showing the market value of each penny stock held in the customer’s account. The broker-dealer must also make a special written determination that the penny stock is a suitable investment for the purchaser and receive the purchaser’s written agreement to the transaction. These requirements may have the effect of reducing the level of trading activity, if any, in the secondary market for a security that becomes subject to the penny stock rules. The additional burdens imposed upon broker-dealers by such requirements may discourage broker-dealers from effecting transactions in our securities, which could severely limit their market price and liquidity of our securities. These requirements may restrict the ability of broker-dealers to sell our Common Stock and may affect your ability to resell our Common Stock.
If we are unable to establish appropriate internal financial reporting controls and procedures, it could cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations, result in the restatement of our financial statements, harm our operating results, subject us to regulatory scrutiny and sanction, cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information and have a negative effect on the market price for shares of our Common Stock.
Effective internal controls are necessary for us to provide reliable financial reports and to effectively prevent fraud. As a public company, we have significant additional requirements for enhanced financial reporting and internal controls. We are required to document and test our internal control procedures in order to satisfy the requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, which requires annual management assessments of the effectiveness of our internal controls over financial reporting. The process of designing and implementing effective internal controls is a continuous effort that requires us to anticipate and react to changes in our business and the economic and regulatory environments and to expend significant resources to maintain a system of internal controls that is adequate to satisfy our reporting obligations as a public company.
As of December 31, 2020 we had several material weaknesses in our financial reporting, these consisted of 1) ineffective controls over period end financial disclosure and reporting processes, including timeliness, 2) we recorded material adjustments related to the valuation of our asset retirement obligation, environmental liabilities and our mandatorily redeemable equity instruments, and 3) we have not performed a risk assessment and mapped our processes to control objectives. We have recently implemented a system of internal control over financial reporting. However, we cannot assure you that we will not, in the future, identify areas requiring improvement in our internal control over financial reporting. We cannot assure you that the measures we will take to remediate any areas in need of improvement will be successful or that we will implement and maintain adequate controls over our financial processes and reporting in the future as we continue our growth. If we are unable to establish appropriate internal financial reporting controls and procedures, it could cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations, result in the restatement of our financial statements, harm our operating results, subject us to regulatory scrutiny and sanction, cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information and have a negative effect on the market price for shares of our Common Stock.
The market price of our Common Stock may be volatile.
The market price of our Common Stock may be highly volatile because, among other reasons, investors are unfamiliar with our operations and financial condition. In addition, we recently acquired the Bakersfield Biorefinery, are currently retooling and converting the refinery into a renewable diesel refinery, and expect to borrow up to $380 million to fund the foregoing purchase and conversion. However, we do not expect to generate revenues until the construction of the Bakersfield Biorefinery is completed. These factors may lead to uncertainty and speculation about our future operations and profitability, which could result in the volatility in our stock price. There are other factors that may materially affect the market price of our Common Stock that are beyond our control, such as analyst research reports, conditions or trends in the renewable fuels industry, or sales of our Common Stock by some of our larger stockholders. These factors may materially adversely affect the market price of our Common Stock, regardless of our performance. In addition, public stock markets have experienced extreme price and trading volume volatility. This volatility has significantly affected the market prices of securities of many companies for reasons frequently unrelated to the operating performance of the specific companies. These broad market fluctuations may adversely affect the market price of our Common Stock.
Because our directors and executive officers are among our largest stockholders, they can exert significant control over our business and affairs and have actual or potential interests that may depart from those of investors.
Our officers and directors owned 5,644,964 shares (or 15.1% of our outstanding voting shares), and options and convertible notes to purchase an additional 24,915,981 shares as of March 31, 2021. The holdings of our directors and executive officers may increase substantially in the future upon exercise rights under any of the options, convertible promissory notes or warrants they may hold or in the future be granted or if they otherwise acquire additional shares of Common Stock. The interests of such persons may differ from the interests of our other stockholders, including purchasers of our securities. As a result, in addition to their influence as members of our Board of Directors or as executive officers, such persons will have significant influence over and control all corporate actions requiring stockholder approval, irrespective of how the Company’s other stockholders, including purchasers in the future financings, may vote, including the following actions:
● to elect or defeat the election of our directors;
● to amend or prevent amendment of our Certificate of Incorporation or By-laws;
● to effect or prevent a merger, sale of assets or other corporate transaction; and
● to control the outcome of any other matter submitted to our stockholders for vote.
This concentration of ownership by itself may have the effect of impeding a merger, consolidation, takeover or other business consolidation, or discouraging a potential acquirer from making a tender offer for the Common Stock which in turn could reduce our stock price or prevent our stockholders from realizing a premium over our stock price.
Our Board of Directors is authorized to issue Preferred Stock without obtaining stockholder approval.
Our Certificate of Incorporation authorizes the issuance of up to 50,000,000 shares of Preferred Stock with designations, rights and preferences determined from time to time by the Board of Directors. Accordingly, our Board of Directors is empowered, without stockholder approval, to issue Preferred Stock with dividend, liquidation, conversion, voting, or other rights which could adversely affect the voting power or other rights of the holders of the Common Stock. In the event of issuance, the Preferred Stock could be utilized, under certain circumstances, as a method of discouraging, delaying or preventing a change in control of the Company. Although we have no present intention to issue any additional shares of Preferred Stock, there can be no assurance that the Company will not do so in the future.

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ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS
ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS.
Not applicable.

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ITEM 2. PROPERTIES
ITEM 2. PROPERTIES.
Executive Offices. Our corporate offices are located at 2790 Skypark Drive, Suite 105, Torrance, California 90505. These offices, consisting of approximately 1,296 square feet, are leased under a lease that expires on July 31, 2022.
Bakersfield, California, Bakersfield Biorefinery. The street address of the Bakersfield Biorefinery 6451 Rosedale Highway, Bakersfield, California. The site has hosted a crude oil refinery for approximately 85 years. The Bakersfield Biorefinery, consisting of three areas designated as Areas 1, 2 and 3, has a total acreage of approximately 607 acres. Areas 1 and 2 are contiguous and can be accessed from Rosedale Highway, while Area 3 (approximately 83 acres) is located about two miles north of Areas 1 and 2. The Westside Parkway abuts the south side of Area 2. The renewable diesel biorefinery will be located primarily within Area 2. Area 3 is currently not in use as part of the biorefinery project. Rail tracks pass through Areas 1 and 2. The Bakersfield Biorefinery is adjacent to a major highway that provides access to the interstate highway system. The biorefinery is also connected to the existing pipeline network in the San Joaquin Valley. The facility contains a substantial amount of equipment that the Company intends to use in its renewable diesel operations, including new and refurbished equipment and vessels to receive, store, process, and refine pre-treated camelina oil, soybean oil and other waste fats, oils and greases. We are refurbishing some of the equipment, including the hydrogen plant, equipment associated with the hydro-processing area, some of the storage tanks, and the upgrading automation controls. We are also making some infrastructure improvements to the rail system and the natural gas and other pipelines. In addition, we are updating the reactors used for biorefining, adding specialized catalysts and some additional process equipment.

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ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS.
C & C Properties, Inc., et al. Bakersfield Renewable Fuels, LLC, formerly Alon Bakersfield Property, Inc., (the “Company”) is a party to an action titled C & C Properties, Inc., et al. v. Shell Pipeline Company, et al., Nos. 19-17463, 19-17464, 19-7601, pending in the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. The underlying case involved the validity of an easement for a natural gas pipeline held by the Company through a series of assignments on land located in Kern County, California, that was acquired by plaintiffs and whether the Company was required to relocate the pipeline after written demand from the plaintiffs. The Company ultimately voluntarily removed the alleged offending pipeline.
In June 2019, the jury found for the plaintiffs and, as against the Company and Paramount, awarded damages in the amount of approximately $0.7 million for trespass and approximately $6 million for benefits obtained from trespass. These defendants filed a $8.4 million supersedeas bond in August 2019.
In a post-trial order entered in November 2019, the court, among other rulings, deemed the award of trespass damages improper, reduced the judgment against the Company and Paramount Petroleum Corporation (a parent company of Alon Bakersfield in 2019) by the approximately $0.7 million in trespass damages, and amended the judgment to award approximately $0.9 million in attorneys’ fees to plaintiffs. The court denied the plaintiffs’ request for prejudgment interest. In January 2020, the court awarded the plaintiffs approximately $30,000 in costs.
The defendants filed a notice of appeal in December 2019, appealing the case from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. The plaintiffs filed a notice of appeal several days later. Appellate briefing is nearing completion, and oral argument is expected in the second half of 2021, with a decision to follow later in the year or in 2022.
Under the Share Purchase Agreement, Alon Paramount agreed to assume and be liable for (and to indemnify, defend, and save BKRF harmless from) this litigation. In addition to the foregoing agreement to hold BKRF harmless from the C & C Properties litigation, a $8.4 million supersedeas bond has been posted as a surety to pay any final judgment (after appeals). All legal fees in this matter are being paid by Paramount Petroleum Corporation.
Wood Warren & Co Securities, LLC On August 24, 2020 Wood Warren & Co Securities, LLC filed a complaint in the Superior Court of California, Alameda County, against GCE Holdings Acquisitions, LLC titled “Wood Warren & Co Securities, LLC vs. GCE Holdings Acquisitions, LLC” (Case No. RG 20072242). The complaint alleges that GCE Holdings Acquisitions, LLC breached that certain Consulting Agreement, dated October 8, 2019, by failing to pay Wood Warren & Co Securities, LLC certain fees that Wood Warrant claims it has earned under the Consulting Agreement. Wood Warren & Co Securities, LLC has asked the court for an award of $1.2 million. GCE Holdings Acquisitions, LLC filed an answer to the complaint on October 14, 2020. GCE Holdings Acquisitions, LLC is investigating the allegations contained in the complaint and is unable to predict the outcome. GCE Holdings Acquisitions, LLC intends to vigorously defend this matter. The court has not yet set a trial date for the matter.
From time to time, we may become a party to legal actions and complaints arising in the ordinary course of business. Other than the foregoing arbitration proceedings, as of the date of this Annual Report we have no legal proceedings pending.

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ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURE
ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES.
Not applicable.
PART II

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ITEM 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT'S COMMON EQUITY
ITEM 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS, AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES.
Market Information
Prior to December 29, 2020 GCEH’s common stock (“Common Stock”) was quoted on the OTC Pink marketplace under the symbol “GCEH”. Since December 29, 2020 the Common Stock has been quoted on the OTCQB Venture Market under the symbol “GCEH”. As a result of the March 26, 2021 1-for-10 reverse stock split, GCEH’s trading symbol has been temporarily changed to “GCEHD” until April 26, 2021.
Common Stock Information
As of March 31, 2021, there were approximately 37,437,000 shares of Common Stock outstanding. On March 26, 2021, GCEH effected a 1-for-10 reverse stock split of its Common Stock. As a result of the reverse stock split, each ten shares of outstanding Common Stock were automatically combined and converted into one share of Common Stock. Immediately prior to the reverse stock split, there were 374,367,458 shares of Common Stock outstanding. As of that date, GCEH had 1,511 Common Stock stockholders of record (excluding stockholders who hold shares in “streetname”).
Dividends
We have not paid any dividends on Common Stock to date and do not anticipate that we will pay dividends in the foreseeable future. Any payment of cash dividends on Common Stock in the future will be dependent upon the amount of funds legally available, our earnings, if any, our financial condition, our anticipated capital requirements and other factors that the Board of Directors may think are relevant. However, we currently intend for the foreseeable future to follow a policy of retaining all of our earnings, if any, to finance the development and expansion of our business and, therefore, do not expect to pay any dividends on Common Stock in the foreseeable future.
We currently have outstanding 13,000 shares of Series B Convertible Preferred Stock (the “Series B Shares”). Under the terms of the Series B shares, no dividends are required to be paid to holders of the Series B Shares. However, the Company may not declare, pay or set aside any dividends on shares of any class or series of GCEH’s capital stock (other than dividends on shares of Common Stock payable in shares of Common Stock) unless the holders of the Series B shares shall first receive, or simultaneously receive, an equal dividend on each outstanding share of Series B shares.
Securities Authorized For Issuance Under Equity Compensation Plans
The following table contains information regarding our equity compensation plans as of December 31, 2020:
Plan Category Number of
Securities to be
Issued upon
Exercise of
Outstanding
Options,
Warrants and
Rights Weighted-
Average
Exercise Price
of
Outstanding
Options,
Warrants and
Rights Number of
Securities
Remaining Available for
Future
Issuance under
Equity
Compensation
Plans (Excluding
Securities
Reflected in
the First
Column)
Equity compensation plans approved by security holders 2020 Equity Incentive Plan 1,054,500 $ 0.844 945,000
Equity compensation plans approved by security holders 2010 Equity Incentive Plan 100,000 0.533 -
Equity compensation plans not approved by security holders Non-Qualified Stock Options (1) 18,075,714 $ 0.191 N/A
Total 19,230,214 - -
(1) Represents options to purchase Common Stock issued to officers and consultants pursuant to various employment and consulting agreements.
Recent Issuances Of Unregistered Securities
The following is a list of all issuance of unregistered securities since December 31, 2019 that have not previously been reported in a Current Report on Form 8-K. Each issuance of the shares listed below was exempt from the registration requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, pursuant to Section 4(a)(2) of the act applicable to a transaction by an issuer not involving a public offering of securities. No underwriter was involved in the issuance of the shares.
a. On January 2, 2020 and January 28, 2020, GCEH issued 667,732 and 100,000 shares of Common Stock, respectively, to a consultant upon the exercise of two non-qualified stock options. The options were granted as payment for services rendered to the Company.
b. On January 2, 2020, GCEH issued 50,000 shares of Common Stock to a director of GCEH upon his exercise of a non-qualified stock option.
c. On May 6, 2020, GCEH issued 554,286 shares of Common Stock to its Executive Vice President upon the exercise of a non-qualified stock option and an incentive stock option.
d. On May 29, 2020, GCEH issued 75,000 shares of Common Stock to one of its attorneys upon the exercise of a non-qualified stock option. The option was granted to the attorney in January 2018 as partial payment for legal services rendered to the Company.
e. On March 26, 2021, we issued 1,586,786 shares of the Company’s Common Stock to the holder of a convertible promissory note upon the conversion of the entire outstanding balance, principal and accrued interest, of that note ($470,115).
Repurchase of Shares
We did not repurchase any of our shares during the fiscal years covered by this report.

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ITEM 6. SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA
ITEM 6. SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA.
Not applicable to a “smaller reporting company” as defined in Item 10(f)(1) of SEC Regulation S-K.

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ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS
ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS.
This Management’s Discussion and Analysis should be read in conjunction with the Financial Statements and Supplementary Data included in Item 15 of this Annual Report, as well as the discussion of the Company’s business and risk contained in Item 1 - Business and Item 1A - Risk Factors,
Overview
Since 2013 the Company has been engaged in developing its Camelina assets. Between July 2018, the date that we entered into a letter of intent for the purchase of the Bakersfield Biorefinery, and the closing of the purchase of the Bakersfield Biorefinery in May 2020, we were exclusively engaged in completing the purchase of the refinery and in obtaining the financing necessary purchase and retool the Bakersfield Biorefinery into a renewable fuels facility. Accordingly, our principal expenses during 2019 and until we purchased the Bakersfield Biorefinery in May 2020 consisted of general and administrative expenses and costs incurred to obtain the financing required to purchase and retool the Bakersfield Biorefinery. After the purchase of the Bakersfield Biorefinery on May 7, 2020, both our operating expenses and our capital expenditures increased significantly.
Since all of our resources were dedicated to the purchase and financing of the Bakersfield Biorefinery, we did not generate any operating revenues in either 2019 or 2020. In order to fund our operating expenses during these periods, we obtained $6 million under a derivative contract (the “Derivative Contract”) that we entered into with a commodity trading company late in October 2018. In October 2019 we modified the Derivative Contract, entered into a new Derivative Contract, and received another $4 million in cash. The Derivative Contract was further amended in 2020 and replaced by a fixed payment obligation that requires the Company to make total payments of $24.8 million, consisting of the $4.5 million payment we made in June 2020, and six equal monthly installment payments beginning in May 2022. The cash that we received from the Derivative Contract was used to fund our operating costs, our due diligence costs, our pre-acquisition costs, the purchase price down payment/deposit for the Bakersfield Biorefinery, our consulting and legal fees associated with the acquisition, and our payments to key vendors and suppliers.
In May 2020 we completed the purchase of the Bakersfield Biorefinery. The total amount of cash consideration paid for the refinery was $40 million and the total amount of all consideration and assumed liabilities was $89.4 million. In order to fund the purchase price of the Bakersfield Biorefinery and the currently on-going conversion of the facility into a renewable diesel refinery, in May 2020 we also entered into a $300 million senior loan facility and a $65 million mezzanine loan facility. In November 2020 we added a total of $15 million to our credit facilities whereby as of December 31, 2020 our senior loan facility was $313.2 million and our mezzanine loan facility was $66.8 million. We are currently converting the Bakersfield Biorefinery from a crude oil refinery into a biorefinery, and we do not expect to commence our proposed biofuel refinery operations until early 2022. Therefore, we do not anticipate generating revenues from the operations of the Bakersfield Biorefinery until the first half of 2022.
Credit Agreements
In order to finance the costs of the Refinery Acquisition and the development, construction, completion, ownership and operation of the biorefinery, our newly formed special purpose subsidiaries (collectively, “Loan Parties”) entered into two credit facilities, the terms of which will materially impact our future cash flow and results of operations.
On May 4, 2020 we entered into a senior credit agreement with a group of lenders (the “Senior Lenders”) pursuant to which the Senior Lenders agreed to provide us a $300 million senior secured term loan facility to enable us to acquire the equity interests of BKRF and to pay the costs of the retooling of the Bakersfield Biorefinery. The Senior Lenders consist of Orion Energy Partners, L.P., GCM Grosvenor and Voya Investment Management. Orion Energy Partners TP Agent, LLC acts as administrative agent for the Senior Lenders. The Senior Lenders have revised the terms of the senior credit agreement to increase the amount available thereunder by $13.2 million. As of December 31, 2020, we had borrowed $151.5 million under the senior credit facility.
The senior loan bears interest at the rate of 12.5% per annum, payable quarterly. The principal of the senior loans is due at maturity, provided that we must offer to prepay the senior loans with any proceeds of asset dispositions, borrowings other than permitted borrowings, proceeds from damage or losses at the refinery, and excess net cash flow. We have the right to prepay the senior loan in whole or in part with the payment of a prepayment premium. As additional consideration for the senior loans, certain of the Loan Parties issued membership interests to the Senior Lenders, which membership interests may provide the Senior Lenders with certain limited cash distributions (see below).
The senior loans are secured by all of the assets of the applicable Loan Parties (including its membership interests in BKRF and the Bakersfield Biorefinery). The senior loans mature on November 4, 2026. The Senior Lenders have a right to accelerate the maturity date of the senior loans if, among other reasons, the retooling and repurposing of the Bakersfield Biorefinery is not substantially complete by March 31, 2022, and the Bakersfield Biorefinery’s production does not meet certain project milestones by dates specified dates in the senior credit agreement.
On May 4, 2020 we also entered into a second credit agreement, dated May 4, 2020, with certain mezzanine lenders (the “Mezzanine Lenders”) pursuant to which the Mezzanine Lenders agreed to provide us with a $65 million secured term loan facility to be used to pay the costs of repurposing and starting up the Bakersfield Biorefinery. The second credit facility has been amended to increase the amount of credit available to us thereunder by $1.8 million. The Mezzanine Lenders, for whom Orion Energy Partners TP Agent, LLC acts as administrative agent, consist of Orion Energy Partners, L.P., GCM Grosvenor and Voya Investment Management. We have not drawn down on the credit facility as of the date of this Annual Report.
The mezzanine loans bear interest at the rate of 15.0% per annum on amounts borrowed, payable quarterly, provided that we may defer interest to the extent we don’t not have sufficient cash to pay the interest, such deferred interest being added to principal. As additional consideration for the mezzanine loans, we have agreed to issue membership interest to the Mezzanine Lenders in certain of the Loan Parties, which interests will be issued at such times as advances are made under the mezzanine loans (see below).
The mezzanine loans mature in November 2027. Principal of the mezzanine loans is due at maturity, provided that we must offer to prepay the loan with any excess net cash flow. We have the right to prepay the loan in whole or in part with the payment of a prepayment premium. The mezzanine loans are secured by the assets of the applicable Loan Parties. The Mezzanine Lenders have a right to accelerate the maturity date of the mezzanine loans upon the occurrence of an event of default. Events of default include, in addition to customary events of default, the change of control of a loan party and any default under the senior credit agreement.
As part of the senior and mezzanine credit agreements, we agreed to grant the senior and mezzanine lenders certain membership interests in one of the Loan Parties, which membership interests will provide the senior and mezzanine lenders with an interest in excess cash flows from the Bakersfield Biorefinery’s operations. These membership interests provide the lenders with an indirect financial interest in the Bakersfield Biorefinery. Other than certain limited approval rights, we have the right to manage the Loan Parties and the refinery, and the lenders have no voting rights. These membership interests are to be issued under the BKRF HCB LLC Amended and Restated Limited Liability Company Agreement (the “BKRF Mezz Borrower LLC Agreement”). The BKRF Mezz Borrower LLC Agreement provides for three classes of membership interests (Units): (i) Class A Units, all of which are held by GCE Acquisitions and evidence our ownership of this subsidiary; (ii) Class B Units that are issued to the Senior Lenders as we draw down on the senior credit facility, and (iii) Class C Units that are reserved for the issuance to the Mezzanine Lenders and will be issued if/when we borrow under the mezzanine credit facility.
Until the later of (i) five years from the commercial operations date of the Bakersfield Biorefinery and (ii) the date the Senior Lenders have received two times the loan amount under the credit facility (the “Termination Date”), the Senior Lenders, as holders of the Class B Units, are entitled to receive quarterly distributions of 25% of the free cash flow until the Senior Lenders have received (collectively, from these cash distributions plus principal and interest on the senior loans) an amount equal to a 2X multiple of invested capital (“MOIC”), or two times the amount of the senior loans, for a total of up to $626.4 million, and, if the Termination Date has not occurred, thereafter quarterly distributions of 5% of the free cash flow until the Termination Date. See Note E to the consolidated financial statements for additional details regarding the credit facility.
Under the BKRF Mezz Borrower LLC Agreement, the Mezzanine Lenders, as holders of the Class C Units, are entitled to receive out of the distributions by BKRF Mezz Borrower not paid to the Class B Members, the following:
● First, 80.0% of such distributions until the Mezzanine Lenders have received cumulative payments (distributions and principal and interests on the mezzanine loans) equal to 2.0X MOIC;
● Second, 65.0% of such distributions until the Mezzanine Lenders have received cumulative payments equal to 3.0X MOIC;
● Third, 50.0% of such distributions until the Mezzanine Lenders have received cumulative payments equal to 4.0X MOIC;
● Fourth, 30.0% of such distributions until the Mezzanine Lenders have received cumulative payments equal to 99.0X MOIC.
Amendments to Credit Agreements: The senior Credit Agreement and mezzanine loan Credit Agreement were entered into on May 4, 2020 in order to fund the acquisition, development and construction of the Bakersfield Biorefinery. Since the two credit agreements were entered into, the scope of the Bakersfield Biorefinery has both changed and expanded to include additional capabilities and equipment, which changes have affected certain of the assumptions made regarding the cost of installing, developing and constructing the Bakersfield Biorefinery. Accordingly, effective March 26, 2021, the Loan Parties entered into Amendment No. 3 to the Credit Agreement to more accurately reflect the updated scope and cost estimates of the Bakersfield Biorefinery and to establish a contingency reserve account to fund the costs of the additional capabilities and equipment and to fund possible cost overruns. Concurrently, BKRF HCB, LLC, BKRF HCP, LLC and the Mezzanine Lenders entered into Consent No. 2 And Amendment No. 2 To Credit Agreement. Under these two amendments, the borrowers (our BKRF OCB, LLC and BKRF HCB, LLC subsidiaries) agreed to establish an additional cash reserve of at least $35 million, which cash reserve would be used at the direction of the administrative agent to fund project costs (including the cost of development, design, engineering, procurement, construction, installation, equipping, completion, start-up, and operation) of the Bakersfield Biorefinery to the extent that such costs exceed the amounts available under the two credit agreements. Funds remaining in the additional reserve account after the completion of the Bakersfield Biorefinery will, with the approval of the administrative agent, be used to first make a $5 million principal payment on the senior loan, and any remaining funds will be returned to GCEH.
In order to fund the new $35 million contingency cash reserve, the two amendments to the credit agreements provide that we will raise no less than $35 million by July 31, 2021 and that we will deposit at least $35 million into the new Bakersfield Biorefinery cash reserve account. The Credit Agreement amendments contemplate that the $35 million will be raised in a public or private financing transaction and, in connection therewith, that we will enter into an agreement with a placement agent or underwriter, or that we will file a registration statement with the SEC by April 30, 2021.
As consideration for the amendments to the two Credit Agreements, the borrowers agreed to pay to each senior and mezzanine lender an amendment and consent premium equal to 1.00% of the aggregate commitments and loans of such lender. The fee is payable in the same securities that we may issue in connection with raising the $35 million cash reserve. If we fund the $35 million cash reserve other than through a financing transaction, we will pay the 1% lenders’ premium in shares of our common stock or in cash. The amendments to senior Credit Agreement and mezzanine loan Credit Agreement also require the borrowers to provide certain updated financial statements and budgets, and amend other provisions of those agreements, including procedures to approve project change orders, and updates to our feedstock execution plan, the rail development milestones, and gas supply milestones.
Critical Accounting Policies
The preparation of financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported assets, liabilities, sales and expenses in the accompanying financial statements. Critical accounting policies are those that require the most subjective and complex judgments, often employing the use of estimates about the effect of matters that are inherently uncertain.
The Company’s most critical accounting policies and estimates that may materially impact the Company’s results of operations include:
Asset Retirement Obligations. The Company recognizes liabilities which represent the fair value of a legal obligation to perform asset retirement activities, including those that are conditional on a future event, when the amount can be reasonably estimated. If a reasonable estimate cannot be made at the time the liability is incurred, we record the liability when sufficient information is available to estimate the liability’s fair value. We have asset retirement obligations with respect to our Bakersfield Biorefinery due to various legal obligations to clean and/or dispose of these assets at the time they are retired. However, the majority of these assets can be used for extended and indeterminate periods of time provided that they are properly maintained and/or upgraded. It is our practice and intent to continue to maintain these assets and make improvements based on technological advances. A portion of these obligations relate to the required cleanout of hydrocarbons previously used in the pipeline and terminal tanks. In order to determine the fair value of the obligations management must make certain estimates and assumptions including, among other things, projected cash flows, a credit-adjusted risk-free rate and an assessment of market conditions that could significantly impact the estimated fair value of the asset retirement obligations. We believe the estimates selected, in each instance, represent our best estimate of future outcomes, but the actual outcomes could differ from the estimates selected.
Environmental Remediation Liabilities. The Company recognizes its asset retirement obligation and environmental liabilities in accordance with ASC 410-30, and has estimated such liabilities as of its acquisition date. It is the Company’s policy to accrue environmental and clean-up related costs of a non-capital nature when it is both probable that a liability has been incurred and the amount can be reasonably estimated. Environmental liabilities represent the current estimated costs to investigate and remediate contamination at our properties. This estimate is based on internal and third-party assessments of the extent of the contamination, the selected remediation technology and review of applicable environmental regulations, typically considering estimated activities and costs for 20 years, and up to 30 years if a longer period is believed reasonably necessary. Accruals for estimated costs from environmental remediation obligations generally are recognized no later than completion of the remedial feasibility study and include, but are not limited to, costs to perform remedial actions and costs of machinery and equipment that are dedicated to the remedial actions and that do not have an alternative use. Such accruals are adjusted as further information develops or circumstances change. We discount environmental liabilities to their present value if payments are fixed and determinable. Expenditures for equipment necessary for environmental issues relating to ongoing operations are capitalized. Changes in laws and regulations and actual remediation expenses compared to historical experience could significantly impact our results of operations and financial position. We believe the estimates selected, in each instance, represent our best estimate of future outcomes, but the actual outcomes could differ from the estimates selected.
Capitalization of Pre-Acquisition Costs. The Company capitalizes its pre-acquisition costs once management determines that it is probable that the project will occur. Probability is determined based on (i) whether management, having the requisite authority, has implicitly or explicitly authorized and committed to funding the acquisition or construction of a specific asset, (ii) the financial resources are available consistent with such authorization, and (iii) the ability exists to meet the necessary local and other governmental regulations. Cost capitalization occurs when the event is probable, but prior to the start of construction. We capitalize those costs that are directly identifiable with the specific property and those costs that would be capitalized if the property were already acquired. We expense general and administrative and overhead costs and costs, including payroll, that would be considered support functions.
Derecognition of Liabilities. The Company reviews its liabilities, including but not limited to, accounts payable, notes payable, accrued expenses, accrued liabilities and other legal obligations, for a determination of the legal enforcement or settlement of an obligation. Upon conclusive evidence that an obligation may be extinguished, has expired, is discharged, cancelled or otherwise no longer legally exists, then the Company will derecognize the respective liability on the Company’s balance sheet.
Derivative Commodity Instruments. The Company has used derivative commodity instruments as a means of generating cash for its efforts in procuring a refinery to fulfill its business plan. The Company may use such instruments in the future to manage its exposures for its feedstocks or end products. Normal purchases and normal sales are contracts that provide for the purchase or sale of something other than a financial instrument or derivative instrument that will be delivered in quantities expected to be used or sold over a reasonable period in the normal course of business. While the Company may deliver refined products from the refinery in the future, at this time these derivative contracts are not considered normal sales contracts. The results of our derivative activities were material to the company’s financial position, results of operations or cash flows in 2018 and 2019. The Company’s risk management practices and its compliance with policies are reviewed by the Company’s Board of Directors. Derivatives beyond those designated as normal purchase and normal sale contracts are recorded at fair value on the Consolidated Balance Sheet with resulting gains and losses reflected in income. Fair values are derived principally from published market quotes and other independent third-party quotes. The change in fair value of Company’s derivative commodity instruments in 2019 was material to the Company’s results of operations. The company does not currently hold any derivative commodity instruments.
Recoverability of Intangible Assets. The Company invests in the development of various plant-based feedstocks for conversion to fuel as part of its core business plan and mandate. The Company has purchased patents and associated know-how that relate directly to the development and growing of Camelina. The Company invests in the ongoing development of Camelina through research and additional patents as breakthroughs occur. The Company capitalizes all of its patent expenses and amortizes these costs over a 17-year period in conjunction with the life of the patent protection. We evaluate the carrying costs of these assets on a periodic basis and will impair such value if deemed necessary. As of 2019, no impairment is necessary and the carrying value of our intellectual property (intangible assets) remains a significant value and expected economic generator going forward.
Income Taxes. The Company utilizes the liability method of accounting for income taxes. Under the liability method, deferred tax assets and liabilities are determined based on differences between financial reporting and tax basis of assets and liabilities and the carryforward of operating losses and tax credits, and are measured using the enacted tax rates and laws that will be in effect when the differences are expected to reverse. A valuation allowance against deferred tax assets is recorded when it is more likely than not that such tax benefits will not be realized. Assets and liabilities are established for uncertain tax positions taken or positions expected to be taken in income tax returns when such positions are judged to not meet the “more-likely-than-not” threshold based on the technical merits of the positions. Estimated interest and penalties related to uncertain tax positions are included as a component of general and administrative expense.
Certain other critical accounting policies, including the assumptions and judgments underlying them, are disclosed in Note 1 to the Consolidated Financial Statements included in this Annual Report. However, we do not believe that there are any alternative methods of accounting for our operations that would have a material effect on our financial statements.
Results of Operations
Revenues. As discussed above, during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019 (“fiscal 2019”) and until May 7, 2020 our activities were devoted solely to the acquisition and financing of the Bakersfield Biorefinery. Since our acquisition of the Bakersfield Biorefinery on May 7, 2020, we have been engaged in converting and repositioning the refinery into a biorefinery and in further developing our Camelina feedstock production supply chain. Accordingly, in fiscal 2019 and the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020 (“fiscal 2020”) we did not engage in any activities that generated current revenues and, as a result, we had no operating revenues in fiscal 2020 or fiscal 2019. The Bakersfield Biorefinery currently is being retooled and converted from a crude oil refinery into a biorefinery and is not expected to commence operations until early 2022. Therefore, we do not anticipate generating revenues from the operations of the Bakersfield Biorefinery until 2022.
General And Administrative Expenses and Facility Expenses. General and administrative expense consists of expenses generally involving corporate overhead functions and operations. Our general and administrative expenses increased by $5.6 million, or 181%, from $3.1 million in fiscal 2019 to $8.0 million in fiscal 2020. This increase was due to higher payroll costs (we have hired over 50 new employees since May 6, 2020), higher accounting and professional fees, higher insurance, information technology services and general office expenses arising from the ownership of the Bakersfield Biorefinery. We expect that our general and administrative expenses will continue to increase in 2021 as the development of the refinery progresses, and expenses will further increase once the Bakersfield Biorefinery is fully operational. Facility expenses primarily consist of maintenance costs to keep the Bakersfield assets, purchased in May 2020, in an operational mode and expenses normally related to the operations of a refinery. The 2020 facility expense was $3.2 million with no comparable expense in 2019.
Interest Income/Expense. Our net fiscal 2019 and fiscal 2020 interest expenses consisted of accrued interest of $0.4 million and $2.3 million, respectively. Interest expense in fiscal 2019 represented interest accrued from $2.1 million of promissory notes outstanding. However, in May 2020 we entered into the $300 million senior loan and the $65 million mezzanine loan. As of December 31, 2020 we borrowed $151.5 million under the senior credit facility. Accordingly, our interest expense in fiscal 2020 represents interest accrued on the amounts borrowed, including the senior credit facility. During 2021 we expect to use all or substantially all of the credit available to us under these two facilities and, accordingly, we expect that our interest expenses will significantly increase as the outstanding principal balances of the credit facilities increase. While the amount of interest that we have to pay under the two credit facilities will increase, the applicable portion of construction period interest costs will be capitalized into the project under the guidance of the current accounting standards.
Change in Fair Value of Derivative and Class B Units and Finance Charges. In October of 2018 we entered into the Derivative Contract under which we recorded an initial $15.1 million liability associated with opening the derivative position. In 2018 we received $6 million in cash from the derivative transaction and recorded a decrease in the derivative liability, which resulted in $3.2 million of income. However, on December 31, 2019 the value of the derivative liability increased to $24.8 million, which after receiving $4 million in cash, resulted in a charge of $8.9 million, and a change of $12.1 million during the year. We modified the terms of the derivative in October of 2019 and received $4 million in cash from the transaction. As part of the Derivative Contract, we recorded a gain from the change in fair value of the derivative of $5.5 million in 2020 and a finance charge of $8.9 million in 2019. In May 2020 we entered into a senior loan credit facility whereby we issued equity units in a subsidiary. We record these units at their fair value when they are issued or become issuable, and we remeasure the fair value of these units at the end of each reporting period. As of December 31, 2020 we determined that the fair value of the liability of the mandatorily redeemable instruments to be $5.1 million, which was an increase in fair value of $2 million, which was charged to other expenses . We had no comparable expense related to the fair value of Class B units in 2019.
Net losses. For 2020 we incurred an operating loss of $12.2 million, an increase of $7.3 million from our operating loss of $4.9 million in 2019. Our operating loss increased because of the substantial increase in our general and administrative expenses (including facilities costs), the costs related to the retooling of the Bakersfield Biorefinery, and our activities in developing the Camelina farming operations and feedstock program. Our total net loss for the year 2020 was $10.6 million, a decrease of $1.2 million or 10% compared to the $11.8 million loss in 2019. Our net loss for 2020 increased over 2019 primarily due to a reduction in the derivative fair value liability of $5.5 million, a gain on the derivative revaluation of $0.5 million and an expense of $2 million due to the change in fair value of Class B units. These gains offset the higher general and administrative costs incurred in 2020. We expect to continue to incur losses in 2021 while our biorefinery is under construction and therefore not operational.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
As of December 31, 2019 and 2020, we had approximately $0.5 million and $40 million of cash, including $35.6 million of restricted cash, of which $22.7 million is considered as long-term as that cash is more than likely to be spent on the construction project and will be capitalized into the project as spent. On December 31, 2020 we had working capital of negative $5.8 million and negative working capital of $33 million at the end of fiscal 2019.
Our efforts to acquire the Bakersfield refinery commenced in early 2018. Our operating costs, including the costs of the professionals that we engaged, exceeded our capital resources. Accordingly, on October 15, 2018, we entered into a derivative contract with a commodities trading company whereby we received $6 million of cash in exchange for a contract for ultra-low sulfur diesel to be settled beginning in July of 2020. This contract created a net fair value liability of $15.1 million. The purpose of this contract was to obtain the cash the Company needed to pursue the acquisition of the Bakersfield Biorefinery. Because of a delay in completing the purchase of the Bakersfield Biorefinery, we had to unwind the original derivative contract on October 29, 2019 and enter into a new derivative transaction whereby we received an additional cash payment of $4 million. The new derivative contract was amended again on April 20, 2020 and calls for a cash payment of $4.5 million in June 2020 (that we paid) and six equal monthly payments of $3.375 million beginning in May 2022. This payment stream is scheduled to coincide around the commencement of operations and the resulting cash flow of the Bakersfield Biorefinery.
The Bakersfield Biorefinery is currently being retooled and converted from a crude oil refinery into a biofuels refinery. The construction of the Bakersfield Biorefinery is expected to be completed, and the Bakersfield Biorefinery is expected to commence commercial operations in early 2022. Until the Bakersfield Biorefinery is operational, we will not generate any refinery operating revenues. We anticipate that we will generate some revenues in 2021 from sales of Camelina seed, although such revenues are not expected to be significant. During the construction phase of the biorefinery, we will incur significant operating costs and capital expenditures to upgrade the existing equipment and facilities. The expenses that we expect to incur include, among others, the purchase of new biorefinery equipment, the payments to our contractors under the various engineering, procurement and construction agreements that we entered into, the costs of maintaining the existing facility during the construction phase, paying licensing fees, the costs of upgrading the refinery’s rail line and certain pipelines, and making interest and other payments under our senior and mezzanine credit facilities.
In order to fund the cost of acquiring the Bakersfield Biorefinery, converting the existing refinery into a biorefinery, and paying all operating expenses during the preoperational period, in May 2020 we entered into a $300 million senior secured term loan facility with the Senior Lenders and a $65 million secured term loan facility with the Mezzanine Lenders. Our senior and mezzanine lenders have also recently agreed to make an additional $15 million available to us, if requested, to develop the Bakersfield Refinery and our Camelina feedstock program. As of December 31, 2020, we have borrowed $151.5 million under the senior credit facility, of which approximately $45 million was unspent as of the end of 2020. We borrowed approximately $31 million in March 2021 to continue the retooling of the Bakersfield Biorefinery and ongoing operations. As of the date of this Annual Report, we have not yet utilized the mezzanine credit facility or the additional $15 million of available credit the senior and mezzanine lenders have made available to us.
The senior loan bears interest at the rate of 12.5% per annum, payable quarterly. No principal payments are required to be made under the senior loan until maturity. The senior loan matures on November 4, 2026. The mezzanine loan will bear interest at the rate of 15.0% per annum on amounts borrowed, payable quarterly, provided that we may defer up to 2.5% interest to the extent we do not have sufficient cash to pay the interest (any deferred interest will be added to principal). Principal of the mezzanine loans is due at maturity. As additional consideration for the senior loans and mezzanine loans, the senior lenders were issued Class B units (and the mezzanine lenders will be issued Class C Units when we borrow under the mezzanine loans) in our subsidiary that indirectly owns the Bakersfield Biorefinery. The Class B and C Units will not affect our liquidity until the Bakersfield Biorefinery commences operations in 2022. However, since the holders of the Class B and C Units will be entitled to certain priority cumulative distributions, if any, that may be made in the future from the operations of the Bakersfield Biorefinery, distributions made on behalf of the Class B and C Units will reduce the amount of distributions that we may be entitled to receive in the future from the operations of the Bakersfield Biorefinery.
Based on our construction budget (including the purchase orders we have issued for the required equipment) and on our internal projections of our future operating expenses, we anticipated that the $380 million available to us under the senior and mezzanine loans (including the supplemental $15 million) would be sufficient to fund our projected capital expenditures and operating expenses at the Bakersfield Biorefinery until the Bakersfield Biorefinery becomes operational. However, the scope of the Bakersfield Biorefinery has both changed and expanded to include additional capabilities and equipment, which changes may increase the cost of installing, developing and constructing the Bakersfield Biorefinery. In order to be prepared for cost overruns, we have agreed with our senior and mezzanine lenders to establish a $35 million contingency reserve by July 31, 2021 to fund any cost overruns. See “Item 9B. Other Information.” We currently do not have the funds to establish the contingency reserve and will, therefore, have to raise this amount through a public or private sale of our securities. No assurance can be given that we will be able to raise the funds by July 31, 2021, or at all. A portion of GCEH’s corporate overhead has been funded from the senior and mezzanine loan advances, which advances GCEH has agreed to pay to the Bakersfield Biorefinery.
Our transition to profitability is dependent upon, among other things, the successful and timely development and construction of our biorefinery and the future commercialization of the products that we intend to produce at the Bakersfield Biorefinery. In order to ensure that we have a buyer for the renewable diesel produced at our biorefinery, we have entered into an offtake agreement with ExxonMobil Oil Corporation. Under that agreement, ExxonMobil has agreed to purchase a minimum of 105 million gallons per year of renewable diesel from the Bakersfield Biorefinery for a period of five years following the date that the Bakersfield Biorefinery commences commercial operations, with the right to acquire additional volumes. The price of the renewable diesel to be sold to ExxonMobil under the contract is based on a combination of both a fixed price and variable price. The revenues we expect to receive under the offtake agreement, together with our other projected sources of revenues, are expected to fund our anticipated working capital and liquidity needs.
Once completed, the Bakersfield Biorefinery will be able to produce renewable diesel from various renewable feedstocks, such as Camelina oil produced from our patented Camelina varieties, soybean oil, used cooking oil, inedible animal fat, and other vegetable oils. We believe that one of our strategic advantages is that a significant portion of the feedstock expected to be used at our biorefinery will be Camelina grain produced by third party farmers for the Bakersfield Biorefinery using our patented Camelina varieties. However, we anticipate that we will need additional funding for general corporate purposes and to grow our certified Camelina seeds, to enter into agreements with farmers, and to otherwise ramp up the cultivation and production of Camelina. As of the date of this report, we have only secured limited funding for our Camelina production plans. Although we are currently in discussions with certain agri-finance companies, other strategic partners, our existing lenders, and possible third party investors for debt or equity financing for our Camelina operations and corporate purposes, no assurance can be given that we will obtain the necessary funds, or that if we do obtain such funding, that the terms under which we obtain such funding will be beneficial to us.
Inflation and changing prices have had minimal effect on our continuing operations over our two most recent fiscal years.

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ITEM 7A. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK
ITEM 7A. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK.
Not applicable to a “smaller reporting company.”

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ITEM 8. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA
ITEM 8. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA.
Financial Statements are referred to in Item 15, listed in the Index to Financial Statements and filed and included following the signature page of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

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ITEM 9. CHANGES IN AND DISAGREEMENTS WITH ACCOUNTANTS
ITEM 9. CHANGES IN AND DISAGREEMENTS WITH ACCOUNTANTS ON ACCOUNTING AND FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE.
Effective January 1, 2021 Hall & Company Certified Public Accountants and Consultants, Inc. (“Hall & Company”), the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm, merged with and into Macias, Gini & O’Connell, LLC (“MGO”). In the merger, Hall & Company’s audit operations and the professional staff of Hall & Company joined MGO as employees of MGO. Accordingly, effective January 8, 2021, Hall & Company resigned as the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm and MGO became the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm. This change in the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm was approved by the Company’s Board of Directors on January 8, 2021.
The principal accountant’s reports of Hall & Company on the financial statements of the Company as of and for the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018, 2017, and 2016 did not contain any adverse opinion or disclaimer of opinion and were not qualified or modified as to uncertainty, audit scope or accounting principles.
During the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018, 2017, and 2016, and through January 8, 2021, there were no disagreements with Hall & Company on any matter of accounting principles or practices, financial statement disclosure, or auditing scope or procedure, which if not resolved to Hall & Company’s satisfaction would have caused it to make reference thereto in connection with its reports on the financial statements for such years. During the fiscal years ended December 31, 2019, 2018, 2017, and 2016, and during the period from the end of the most recently audited fiscal year through January 8, 2021, there were no reportable events of the type described in Item 304(a)(1)(v) of Regulation S-K.
During the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018, 2017, and 2016, and through January 8, 2021, the Company did not consult with MGO with respect to any of (i) the application of accounting principles to a specified transaction, either completed or proposed; (ii) the type of audit opinion that might be rendered on the Company’s financial statements; or (iii) any matter that was either the subject of a disagreement (as defined in Item 304(a)(1)(iv) of Regulation S-K) or an event of the type described in Item 304(a)(1)(v) of Regulation S-K.

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ITEM 9A. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES
ITEM 9A. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES.
Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures
We maintain disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rule 13a-15(e)) that are designed to assure that information required to be disclosed in our Exchange Act reports is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms, and that such information is accumulated and communicated to management, including our Chief Executive Officer and our Chief Financial Officer (the “Certifying Officers”), as appropriate, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosures.
In designing and evaluating the disclosure controls and procedures, management recognizes that any controls and procedures, no matter how well designed and operated, can provide reasonable assurance only of achieving the desired control objectives, and management necessarily is required to apply its judgment in weighing the costs and benefits of possible new or different controls and procedures. Limitations are inherent in all control systems, so no evaluation of controls can provide absolute assurance that all control issues and any fraud within the company have been detected.
As required by Exchange Act Rule 13a-15(b), as of the end of the period covered by this Annual Report on Form 10-K, management, under the supervision and with the participation of our Certifying Officers, evaluated the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures. Based on this evaluation, the Certifying Officers have concluded that, as of the end of the period covered by this Annual Report on Form 10-K, our disclosure controls and procedures were not effective because of the material weaknesses described below under “Management’s Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting,” below. We have taken the additional remedial steps to address the material weaknesses in our disclosure controls and procedures as set forth below under “Management’s Plan for Remediation of Material Weaknesses.”
Management’s Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting (“ICFR”), as such term is defined in Rule 13a-15(f) of the Exchange Act. Our internal control system was designed to provide reasonable assurance to our management and board of directors regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation and fair presentation of its published consolidated financial statements.
Because of its inherent limitations, ICFR may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.
A material weakness is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in ICFR, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. Management has evaluated the effectiveness of the Company’s ICFR as of December 31, 2019. Management based its assessment on the framework set forth in Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (“COSO”) in Internal Control - Integrated Framework (2013) in conjunction with SEC Release No. 33-8810 entitled “Commission Guidance Regarding Management’s Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting Under Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities and Exchange Commission” (17 CFR PART 241). Because of the material weaknesses described below, management concluded that the Company’s ICFR was not effective as of December 31, 2020:
● Ineffective controls over period end financial disclosure and reporting processes, including not timely performing certain reconciliations, and lack of approval of adjusting journal entries. This deficiency also resulted in books not being closed on a timely basis.
● In completing the closing of our 2020 financial statements, we recorded material adjustments related to the valuation of asset retirement obligations and environmental liabilities and mandatorily redeemable equity instruments. These adjustments were the result of rigorous reviews at year end. However, we note these adjustments also represent corrections to these items being misstated earlier in the year due to a lack of a rigorous review when they were initially recorded.
● The Company has not performed a risk assessment and mapped our accounting processes to control objectives.
Management believes that the material weaknesses arose because the Bakersfield Biorefinery had minimal controls in place when it was purchased in May 2020, and as of December 31, 2020 the Company had not completed its implementation of all the internal controls and procedures. The Company is taking measures to remediate these deficiencies.
The material weaknesses and other matters impacting the Company’s internal controls may cause it to be unable to report its financial information on a timely basis and thereby subject it to adverse regulatory consequences, including sanctions by the SEC or violations of applicable stock exchange or quotation service listing rules. There could also be a negative reaction in the financial markets due to a loss of investor confidence in the Company and the reliability of its financial statements. Confidence in the reliability of the Company’s financial statements may suffer due to the Company’s reporting of material weaknesses in its internal controls over financial reporting. This could materially adversely affect the Company and lead to a decline in the price of its Common Stock.
This Annual Report does not include an attestation report of our independent registered public accounting firm regarding internal control over financial reporting. Management’s report was not subject to attestation by our independent registered public accounting firm as such attestation is not required for non-accelerated filers such as this company pursuant to applicable SEC rules.
Management’s Plan for Remediation of Material Weaknesses
The Company has taken the following actions, and continues to be engaged in, making necessary changes and improvements to its internal control system to address the material weakness in ICER described above. These actions include:
(a) The Company has hired additional financial and accounting personnel who are experienced in U.S. GAAP financial reporting, including additional personnel in the Company’s newly established accounting department. The Company is evaluating its accounting personnel to remediate the identified weaknesses;
(b) The Company has purchased and installed a new financial reporting and accounting system and is implementing more robust financial reporting, accounting and management controls over its accounting and financial reporting functions at all of its facilities. The Company is evaluating its necessary approval control procedures;
(c) The Company has engaged the necessary independent valuation experts to value the Company’s asset retirement obligations, environmental liabilities and/or certain financial instruments.
Changes in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
During the fourth quarter of fiscal 2020, we enhanced the reporting structure of our accounting system, and began the implementation of other financial reporting tools. Other than these changes, there were no other changes in our internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the quarter ended December 31, 2020 that materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.

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ITEM 9B. OTHER INFORMATION
ITEM 9B. OTHER INFORMATION
Issuance of Shares: On March 26, 2021, we issued 1,586,786 shares of the Company’s Common Stock to the holder of a convertible promissory note upon the conversion of the entire outstanding balance, principal and accrued interest, of that note ($470,115).
PART III

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ITEM 10. DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
ITEM 10. DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE OFFICERS, AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE.
The following table sets forth the name, age and position held by each of GCEH’s current executive officers and directors as of March 31, 2021. Directors are elected for a period of one year and thereafter serve until the next annual meeting at which their successors are duly elected by the stockholders.
Name Age Position
David R. Walker (1) Chairman of the Board
Richard Palmer President, Chief Executive Officer, and Director
Martin Wenzel Director
Noah Verleun Executive Vice President-Development & Regulatory Affairs
Ralph Goehring
Vice President-Finance, and Chief Financial Officer,
(1) Member of our Audit Committee
Mr. Palmer and Mr. Goehring also serve as the President, Chief Executive Officer and as the Chief Financial Officer, respectively, of all of the Company’s principal subsidiaries.
Business Experience and Directorships
The following describes the backgrounds of current executive officers and directors. Mr. Walker and Mr. Wenzel are independent directors as defined in the Nasdaq rules governing members of boards of directors.
David R. Walker
David R. Walker joined the Board of Directors in May 1996 and was appointed Chairman of the Board of Directors in May 1998. He has served as Chairman of the Audit Committee since 2001. Mr. Walker has been retired since July, 2016. From 1976 until his retirement in July 2016, Mr. Walker was the General Manager of Sunheaven Farms, the largest onion growing and packing entity in the State of Washington. In the capacity of General Manager, Mr. Walker performed the functions of a traditional chief financial officer. Mr. Walker holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from Brigham Young University with minors in accounting and finance.
The Board believes that Mr. Walker’s experience regarding the operation and management of large-scale agricultural farms and his experience as a financial officer are valuable resources to our Board in formulating business strategy, addressing business opportunities and resolving operational issues that arise from time to time.
Richard Palmer
Richard Palmer was appointed as our President and Chief Operating Officer in September 2007 and has been a member of the Board of Directors since September 2007. Mr. Palmer became our Chief Executive Officer in December 2007. Prior to joining the Company in 2007, Mr. Palmer was a co-founder of Mobius Risk Group, LLC, an energy risk advisory services consulting company that was formed in January 2002 and was a principal and Executive Vice President of that consulting company until September 2007. From 1997 to 2002, Mr. Palmer was a Senior Director at Enron Energy Services. Prior thereto, from 1995 to 1996 Mr. Palmer was a Vice President of Bentley Engineering, and a Senior Vice President of Southland Industries from 1993 to 1996. Mr. Palmer received his designation as a Certified Energy Manager in 1999, holds two Business Management Certificates from University of Southern California’s Business School, and is an active member of both the American Society of Plant Biologists, and the Union of Concerned Scientists. Mr. Palmer is Trustee & President of the Center for Sustainable Energy Farming (CFSEF), a non-profit research institute dedicated to sustainable communities, fueled by socially responsible clean energy. In February 2013, Mr. Palmer joined the RSB Services Foundation’s Board of Directors and held the Chairman role from April until December 2013. RSB Services acted as the implementing entity of the Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels (RSB) sustainability certification until December 2013.
Over the last 27 years, Mr. Palmer has held senior level management positions with a number of large engineering, development, operations and construction companies, and, as a result, he has garnered a wealth of experience in the energy field. Mr. Palmer’s experience is important to the development and execution of the Company’s business plan. Mr. Palmer is the only member of management who serves as a director of the Company.
Martin Wenzel
Martin Wenzel was appointed to the Board of Directors on May 7, 2020. Mr. Wenzel previously served on the Board from April 2010 until the end of 2014. Until his appointment as a director, Mr. Wenzel served as an advisor to the Board pursuant to that certain Board Advisor Agreement, dated June 21, 2019.
Martin Wenzel has been an Executive Vice President for Heorot Power Holdings since June 2016. Prior to joining Heorot Power Holdings, Mr. Wenzel served as Executive Vice President for Beowulf Energy from July 2012 to June 2016. Prior to his work at Beowulf, he was appointed as the President and Chief Executive Officer for Colorado Energy Management (2007-2012.) Mr. Wenzel was the Senior Vice President (Sales and Marketing) of Miasole Inc., a producer of solar cell products. Mr. Wenzel was President and Chief Executive Officer of Alpha Energy LLC from 2001-2004. He currently is a member of the Board of the Directors for ION Clean Energy, a carbon capture technology company based in Colorado. Mr. Wenzel holds an Executive MBA from Columbia Business School, a Master’s degree in Systems Management from The University of Southern California, and a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering and Management from the U.S. Naval Academy.
Mr. Wenzel was chosen to serve as a director on the Board because of his extensive background in the energy industry, including over 30 years of developing, financing, constructing and operating energy projects and marketing energy commodities in the U.S. and internationally.
Noah Verleun
Noah Verleun was appointed as the Company’s Senior Vice President in January 2019 and as our Executive Vice President of Development & Regulatory Affairs in May 2020. He has held various roles across the organization since 2010. Prior to joining the Company, Mr. Verleun worked for JP Morgan PWM, Rockefeller University in its office of investments and OC&C Strategy Consultants in London. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics and a Master of Public Policy degree from the University of Southern California.
Ralph Goehring
Ralph Goehring joined the Company on May 20, 2020 and was appointed Vice President-Finance and Chief Financial Officer on July 10, 2020. From 2010 until his appointment to GCEH, Mr. Goehring was the Chief Executive Officer and majority owner of SandDollar Financial LLC, a company that provided accounting and financial reporting services to energy related firms. From 1987 until 2008, Mr. Goehring worked at Berry Petroleum Company, first as Manager of Tax (1987-1992), and thereafter as Chief Financial Officer (1992-2008). Prior to joining Berry Petroleum Company, Mr. Goehring was a Senior Tax Accountant at Arthur Andersen & Co. Mr. Goehring holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of California, Berkeley, and is a CPA.
Compliance with Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act
Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 requires our executive officers and directors, and persons who own more than 10% of a registered class of our equity securities, to file reports of ownership and changes in ownership with the SEC. Executive officers, directors and greater than 10% stockholders are required by SEC regulations to furnish us with copies of all Section 16(a) forms they file.
Based solely on information provided to us by our officers and directors and our review of copies of reporting forms received by us, we believe that during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020, our officers and directors failed to timely file the following forms under Section 16(a): Ralph Goehring failed to timely file a Form 3 upon his appointment as the Company’s Chief Financial Officer and Noah Verleun failed to timely file a Form 3 upon his appointment as an executive officer of GCEH, and thereafter failed to file a Form 4 upon the exercise of certain options for the purchase of shares of Common Stock.
Code of Ethics
Our Board of Directors has adopted a revised code of ethics that applies to our principal executive officers, principal financial officer or controller, or persons performing similar functions. Our code of ethics and business conduct is available on our website at www.gceholdings.com. The reference to our website address does not constitute incorporation by reference of the information contained at or available through our website, and you should not consider it to be a part of this Annual Report.
Adherence to ESG principles.
We believe that (i) our impact on the environment, (ii) how we manage our relationships with employees, suppliers, customers and the communities in which we operate, and (iii) the accountability of our leadership to our stockholders are important to our stockholders and the success of business. We believe that our business goal of reducing the carbon intensity of transportation fuels and reducing greenhouse gases is a key component of our environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) program. Our workforce is critical to our success, and we are committed to fostering a culture of safety, diversity and inclusion that makes our employees feel safe, empowered and engaged. We plan to report how we oversee and manage ESG factors material to our business.
Board Committees
Our Board of Directors has an Audit Committee, but does not currently have a Compensation Committee or a Nominating Committee.
Audit Committee. Our Audit Committee operates pursuant to a written charter. Among other things, the Audit Committee is responsible for:
● reviewing and discussing with management and the independent registered public accounting firm our annual and quarterly financial statements and related disclosures;
● hiring our independent registered public accounting firm, and coordinating the oversight and review of the adequacy of our internal control over financial reporting with both management and the independent registered public accounting firm; and
● reviewing and, if appropriate, approving all transactions between our company or its subsidiaries and any related party.
Because the Board of Directors currently only has three directors, only one of whom is independent according to The Nasdaq Stock Market rules, as of the date of this Annual Report David Walker is the sole member of the Audit Committee. The Board expects to appoint additional members to the Board of Directors, including additional members of the Audit Committee, in the near future. Mr. Walker has significant knowledge of financial matters, and our Board has designated Mr. Walker as the “audit committee financial expert” of the Audit Committee.
Nominating Committee. GCEH does not currently maintain a nominating committee. Rather, all of the directors on the Company’s Board of Directors at any given time participate in identifying qualified director nominees and recommending such persons to be nominated for election to the Board at each annual meeting of our stockholders. As a result, our Board has not found it necessary to have a separate nominating committee. However, the Board may form a nominating committee for the purpose of nominating future director candidates.
Compensation Committee. GCEH does not currently have a compensation committee. All of GCEH’s directors participate in determining the compensation of our executive officers and non-employee directors. As a result, the Board has not found it necessary to have a separate compensation committee.
In determining the compensation of any executive officer or non-employee director, the full Board (excluding the executive officer or non-employee director whose compensation is being determined) will consider such factors as they deem appropriate in developing competitive compensation standards aimed at attracting and retaining qualified management personnel and directors. Some of these factors may include, but are not limited to, the level of compensation paid to senior executives and directors at businesses and other organizations of comparable size and industry, and the specific experience and expertise of any particular executive officer or non-employee director relative to the experience and expertise of other executive officers and non-employee directors. Our Board meets at least once a year to review and consider the current compensation of our executive officers and non-employee directors, and if appropriate, adjust the current levels of such compensation.

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ITEM 11. EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION
ITEM 11. EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION.
Summary Compensation Table.
Summary of Cash and Other Compensation. The following table sets forth compensation for services rendered in all capacities to the Company: (i) for each person who served as the Company’s Chief Executive Officer at any time during the past fiscal year, (ii) for the two most highly compensated executive officers, other than our Chief Executive Officer, who was employed with the Company on December 31, 2020 and who earned over $100,000 during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020, and (iii) for up to two other executive officers who earned over $100,000 during the December 31, 2020 fiscal year but were no longer employed with the Company on December 31, 2020 (the foregoing executives are herein collectively referred to as the “Named Executive Officers”).
Summary Compensation Table
Name and
Principal Position Fiscal
Year
Ended
12/31 Salary Paid
or Accrued
($)
Bonus Paid
or Accrued
($)
Stock
Awards
($)
Option
Awards
($)(2)
All Other
Compensation
($)
Total
($)
Richard Palmer 332,740 175,000 - - 21,089 528,829
President and Chief Executive Officer 300,000 350,000 - - - 650.000
Ralph Goehring Chief Financial Officer (1) 138,750 - - 52,694 25,810 217,254
Noah Verleun 263,397 155,000
18,294 436,691
Executive Vice President 176,538 (3) - - 245,317 - 421,855
(1) Mr. Goehring joined the Company on May 20, 2020 and was appointed as the Company’s Chief Financial Officer on July 10, 2020.
(2) Amounts represent the aggregate grant date fair value of awards computed in accordance with ASC Topic 718, excluding the effects of any estimated forfeitures. For assumptions used in determining grant date fair market value, refer to Note G of Notes to the Financial Statements included in this Annual Report. The amounts reported for these options may not represent the actual economic values that our Named Executive Officers will realize from these options as the actual value realized will depend on our performance, stock price and their continued employment.
(3) Mr. Verleun was appointed as GCEH’s Senior Vice President in January 2019 and as GCEH’s Executive Vice President-Development & Regulatory Affairs in May 2020.
Option Grants
Mr. Goehring was granted an option to purchase 100,000 shares of the Company’s common stock under the Company’s 2020 Equity Incentive Plan, which options (i) have an exercise price of $0.932 (equal to the closing market price on the date prior to the first day of Mr. Goehring’s employment with the Company), (ii) have a five year term, and (iii) vest in twelve equal quarterly installments commencing with the fiscal quarter ending June 30, 2020.
Holdings of Previously Awarded Equity
The following table sets forth information as of December 31, 2020, concerning unexercised options, unvested stock and equity incentive plan awards for our Named Executive Officers.
OUTSTANDING EQUITY AWARDS AT YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2020
Option Awards
Name Number of
Securities
Underlying
Unexercised
Options
(#)
Exercisable Number of
Securities
Underlying
Unexercised
Options
(#) Unexercisable Equity Incentive
Plan Awards:
Number of
Securities
Underlying
Unexercised
Unearned Options
(#) Option Exercise
Price
($) Option Expiration
Date
Richard Palmer 11,000,000 - $0.154 10/15/23
Ralph Goehring 25,000 75,000 - $0.932 05/18/25
Noah Verleun 5,000,000
687,500
181,964
312,500
93,750
-
-
- $0.200
$0.165
$0.035
01/14/24
04/09/24
09/16/23
Director Compensation.
Pursuant to GCEH’s director compensation policy, in 2019 and 2020 each non-employee director earned $24,000 per year for serving on the Board, and was entitled to an annual grant of options to acquire 50,000 shares of Common Stock. Directors who are employed by the Company as officers or employees are not entitled to any compensation for serving on the Board of Directors. Dave Walker, the Chairman of the Board, served as only non-employee director in 2019 and in 2020 until Martin Wenzel was appointed on May 7, 2020. Until his appointment as a director, Mr. Wenzel served as an advisor to the Board pursuant to a 2019 Board Advisor Agreement. Under the Board Advisor Agreement, Mr. Wenzel was granted a five-year non-qualified stock option to purchase 50,000 shares at an exercise price of $0.80 per share, which option automatically vested upon Mr. Wenzel’s appointment to the Board. The following table sets forth information concerning the compensation paid to Messrs. Walker and Wenzel in each 2019 and 2020 for services rendered as a director. Richard Palmer, who has served as a director and as our President and Chief Executive Officer was not compensated for his services as a director; his compensation as an officer is described above in the Summary Compensation Table.
DIRECTOR COMPENSATION FOR FISCAL YEARS 2020 and 2019
Name
Year
Fees
Earned or
Paid in
Cash Stock
Awards Option
Awards(1)(2) All Other
Compensation Total
David R. Walker $24,000 - $22,065 - $46,065
$24,000 - $23,427 - $47,427
Martin Wenzel $15,550 - $22,065(3) - $37,615
Total
$63,550 - $67,557 - $131,107
(1) This column represents the aggregate grant date fair value of option awards computed in accordance with FASB ASC Topic 718, excluding the effect of estimated forfeitures related to service-based vesting conditions. For additional information on the valuation assumptions with respect to the option grants, refer to Note 8 of our financial statements in this Annual Report. These amounts do not correspond to the actual value that will be recognized by the named directors from these awards.
(2) Pursuant to the company’s director compensation, each non-employee director is entitled to an annual grant of options to acquire 50,000 shares.
(3) Excludes the five-year non-qualified stock option to purchase 50,000 shares that Mr. Wenzel was granted in 2019 as an advisor to the Board, which option automatically vested upon Mr. Wenzel’s appointment to the Board.
Employment Agreements
Richard Palmer. On October 16, 2018, GCEH and Mr. Palmer entered into a new Executive Employment Agreement (the “2018 Employment Agreement”) that replaced the 2014 Employment Agreement. Under the 2018 Employment Agreement, Mr. Palmer agreed to serve as the Company’s President and Chief Executive Officer through October 15, 2023 at an annual base salary of $300,000 per year. Upon the closing of the Acquisition, on May 7, 2020 GCEH and Mr. Palmer amended the 2018 Employment Agreement to increase Mr. Palmer’s annual base salary to $350,000, effective immediately. Under the 2018 Employment Agreement, Mr. Palmer is entitled to receive an annual bonus if he meets certain performance targets. The target annual bonus amount is 50% of Mr. Palmer’s base salary, subject to the Board’s discretion to increase the amount of the bonus or adjust the performance criteria. If Mr. Palmer’s employment is terminated as a result of his death or disability, or by him for “Good Reason” as defined in the 2018 Employment Agreement, in addition to receiving a payment of all outstanding sums due and owing to him at the time of separation, GCEH is required to pay Mr. Palmer (or his estate) an amount equal to twelve (12) months of Mr. Palmer’s then-current base salary in the form of salary continuation, plus payment of Mr. Palmer’s and his family’s medical insurance premiums. If Mr. Palmer’s employment is terminated for death or disability, Mr. Palmer or his estate will also be entitled to retain any stock options that have vested as of the date of termination.
Under the 2018 Employment Agreement, the Company agreed to grant, and did grant, Mr. Palmer a five-year non-qualified stock option (“Option”) to purchase 11 million shares of Common Stock at an exercise price of $0.154, subject to the Company’s achievement of certain market capitalization goals. Under the Option, the Option would vest with respect to 4 million shares when the Company’s market capitalization first reaches $7 million, another 4 million shares would vest when the Company’s market capitalization reaches $15 million, and 3 million shares would vest when the Company’s market capitalization first reaches $25 million. The Company’s market capitalization has exceeded each of the foregoing levels and, accordingly, the Option has fully vested.
Noah Verleun. Effective January 15, 2019, the Company entered into a three-year employment agreement with Noah Verleun, the Company’s Executive Vice President, which agreement was amended on May 7, 2020. Under the employment agreement, Mr. Verleun is currently paid an annual base salary of $310,000 and is entitled to receive an annual bonus of up to 50% of his annual base salary if Mr. Verleun meets certain performance targets. In order to be eligible to receive a bonus, Mr. Verleun must be employed by the Company on the last day of the year in which the bonus is earned. If Mr. Verleun’s employment is terminated by him for “Good Reason” as defined in the Verleun Agreement, in addition to receiving a payment of all outstanding sums due and owing to him at the time of separation, the Company is required to pay Mr. Verleun (or his estate) an amount equal to four months of Mr. Verleun’s then-current base salary in the form of salary continuation, plus payment of Mr. Verleun’s and his family’s medical insurance premiums. If Mr. Verleun’s employment is terminated for death or disability, Mr. Verleun or his estate shall be entitled to the same four month’s salary, and he will be entitled to retain any stock options that have vested as of the date of termination.
Under Mr. Verleun’s employment agreement, the Company agreed to grant, and did grant, Mr. Verleun a five-year non-qualified stock option to purchase 5 million shares of Common Stock at an exercise price of $0.2, subject to the Company’s achievement of certain market capitalization goals. The foregoing option was scheduled to vest in three tranches when the Company’s market capitalization reached $7 million, $15 million, and $25 million. The Company’s market capitalization has exceeded each of the foregoing levels and, accordingly, Mr. Verleun’s options to purchase the foregoing 5 million shares have fully vested.
Ralph Goehring. On May 20, 2020, the Company hired Ralph Goehring as GCEH’s Vice President Finance and Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Goehring is an at-will employee. In addition to his duties as an officer of GCEH, Mr. Goehring also will be responsible for financial and accounting matters for BKRF and the other entities affiliated with BKRF. Mr. Goehring annual base salary is $225,000 per year. He is also entitled to a discretionary annual bonus, in an amount up to 25% of his annual salary, based on the Company’s performance. Upon joining GCEH, Mr. Goehring was granted an incentive stock option to purchase 100,000 shares of Common Stock under GCEH’s 2020 Equity Incentive Plan. The foregoing options have an exercise price of $0.932 (the closing trading price on the day prior to the date that his employment commenced), a five-year term, and vest over three years.
Amended & Restated Non-Solicitation And Confidentiality Agreements. As a condition to the Senior Lenders entering into Credit Agreements, Mr. Palmer and Mr. Verleun entered into substantially identical Amended & Restated Non-Solicitation And Confidentiality Agreements (the “Non-Solicitation And Confidentiality Agreements”) with BKRF Owner. Under the Non-Solicitation And Confidentiality Agreements, both Mr. Palmer and Mr. Verleun each individually agreed that, during the period that they are employed by GCEH or any of GCEH’s subsidiaries or affiliates that are involved in the production of renewable diesel, they will not, directly or indirectly, (i) solicit, divert or take away any customers, clients, offtake parties, business acquisition or other business opportunity of the Company related to the production of renewable diesel in the U.S., (ii) contact or solicit (other than through general advertising or solicitations not targeted at the Company’s employees), with respect to hiring, or knowingly hire any employee or consultant of the Company or any person employed or engaged as a service provider by the Company at any time during the 12-month period immediately preceding the termination of their employment, (iii) induce, advise or encourage any employee or consultant of the Company to leave his or employment or engagement with the Company, or (iv) induce any distributor or supplier (including, without limitation, suppliers of feedstocks, consumables, equipment, or construction services), customer, client, or other counterparty of the Company to terminate or modify its relationship with the Company. However, nothing in the Non-Solicitation And Confidentiality Agreements is intended to prevent either Mr. Palmer or Mr. Verleun from engaging in, or otherwise being involved in, the development, production, cultivation, distribution, storage, marketing and sale of renewable fuel feedstocks, including Camelina, or the ownership of an equity or profits interest in any entity engaged in renewable fuel feedstock development, production, cultivation, distribution, storage, marketing and sale.
Under the Non-Solicitation And Confidentiality Agreements, each of Mr. Palmer and Mr. Verleun agreed not make any sale, transfer or other disposition of any equity interests that they may own in GCEH or any of its subsidiaries (including any shares of Common Stock or options that they may own) until the Senior Lenders have received a certain cumulative amount of distributions under Amended and Restated Limited Liability Company Agreement of BKRF Mezzanine Borrower; unless (x) such sale, transfer or disposition is for estate planning purposes to an entity that is and remains in their control or (y) all of the cash proceeds from any such sale, transfer or disposition are used to pay costs and expenses (specifically including amounts needed to purchase any Common Stock in GCEH or to cover any resultant tax liabilities) incurred in connection with the exercise of options to purchase such Common Stock in GCEH.
Change of Control Arrangements
The Company has no change of control payment agreements in effect.
Equity Incentive Plan
On May 13, 2010, our Board of Directors adopted the 2010 Equity Incentive Plan (the “2010 Plan”) pursuant to which the Board of Directors reserved an aggregate of 2,000,000 shares of Common Stock for future issuance. The 2010 Plan was approved by our stockholders at the Annual Meeting of Stockholders held in November 2010. The 2010 Plan provided for awards of incentive stock options, non-qualified stock options, and stock appreciation rights. At the time that the 2010 Plan expired on May 12, 2020, options for the issuance of all 2,000,000 shares authorized by the 2010 Plan had been granted. As of December 31, 2020, 100,000 options were outstanding under the 2010 Plan and, since the 2010 Plan has expired, no additional awards may be made under the 2010 Plan.
Equity Incentive Plan
On April 10, 2020, GCEH’s Board of Directors adopted the “Global Clean Energy Holdings, Inc. 2020 Equity Incentive Plan” (the “2020 Plan”) pursuant to which the Board of Directors reserved an aggregate of 2,000,000 shares of Common Stock for future issuance. The 2020 Plan was approved by the Company’s stockholders on November 17, 2020 at GCEH’s annual meeting of stockholders. As of December 31, 2020, GCEH has issued options to purchase 1,054,000 shares under the 2020 Plan. Except with respect to awards then outstanding, unless sooner terminated, the 2020 Plan will expire on April 9, 2030, and no further awards may be granted after that date.
Types of Awards
The 2020 Plan provides for the following types of awards: incentive stock options, nonstatutory stock options, restricted stock awards, restricted stock unit awards, stock appreciation rights, performance stock awards, performance cash awards, and other stock-based awards. We refer to these stock awards collectively as the stock awards or awards.
Eligibility
Stock awards may be granted under the 2020 Plan to employees (including officers) and consultants of the Company or our affiliates, and to members of our Board of Directors. Pursuant to applicable tax law, we may grant incentive stock options only to our employees (including officers) and employees of our affiliates.
Annual Compensation to Non-Employee Directors; Limitation on Annual Stock Awards to Participants
The 2020 Plan provides that the compensation payable by us to a non-employee director for services performed as a non-employee director, including, without limitation, the grant date value (determined under U.S. generally accepted accounting principles) of awards, cash retainers, committee fees and other compensation, shall not exceed $500,000 in the aggregate during any calendar year. Furthermore, the 2020 Plan provides that a maximum of 100,000 shares of our common stock subject to options and other stock awards may be granted to any non-employee director during any calendar year. The 2020 Plan also provides that no officer, employee or consultant may be granted stock awards covering more than 500,000 shares of our common stock during any calendar year pursuant to stock options, stock appreciation rights and other stock awards.
Administration
The 2020 Plan is administered by our Board of Directors, which may in turn delegate authority to administer the 2020 Plan to a committee. Our Board of Directors may determine the recipients, numbers and types of stock awards to be granted, and terms and conditions of the stock awards, including the period of their exercisability and vesting. Subject to the limitations set forth below, our Board also determines the fair market value applicable to a stock award and the exercise price of stock options and stock appreciation rights granted under the 2020 Plan.
If the administration of the 2020 Plan is delegated to a newly formed Compensation Committee by the Board of Directors, that Compensation Committee shall be comprised of at least two directors, each of whom is (1) a “non-employee director” within the meaning of Rule 16b-3 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and (2) an “independent director” under applicable rules of The NASDAQ Stock Market LLC, including the independence rules of such stock exchange relating to compensation committee members. The 2020 Plan also permits delegation to one or more officers of the ability to determine the recipients, number of shares and types of stock awards (to the extent permitted by law) to be granted to employees other than our officers, subject to a maximum limit on the aggregate number of shares subject to stock awards that may be granted by such officers.
Stock Available for Awards
The total number of shares of our common stock reserved for issuance under the 2020 Plan will consist of 2,000,000 shares (the “Share Reserve”). The shares of common stock subject to stock awards granted under the 2020 Plan that expire, are forfeited because of a failure to vest, or otherwise terminate without being exercised in full will return to the Share Reserve and be available for issuance under the 2020 Plan. However, any shares that are withheld to satisfy tax requirements or that are used to pay the exercise or purchase price of a stock award will not return to the 2020 Plan.
Appropriate adjustments will be made to the Share Reserve, to the limit on the number of shares that may be issued as incentive stock options, to the limit on the number of shares that may be awarded to any one person in any calendar year and to outstanding awards in the event of any change in our common stock without the receipt of consideration by GCEH through reorganization, recapitalization, reincorporation, stock dividend, dividend in property other than cash, large nonrecurring cash dividend, stock split, reverse stock split, spin-off, split-off, liquidating dividend, combination of shares, exchange of shares, change in corporate structure or any similar equity restructuring transaction, other than the conversion of convertible securities.
Repricing
The 2020 Plan expressly provides that, without the approval of our stockholders, the Compensation Committee may not provide for either the cancellation of underwater stock options or stock appreciation rights outstanding under the 2020 Plan in exchange for the grant of new awards, or the amendment of outstanding stock options or stock appreciation rights to reduce their exercise price.
Dividends and Dividend Equivalents
The 2020 Plan provides that (1) no dividends or dividend equivalents may be paid with respect to any shares of our common stock subject to an award before the date that such shares have vested, (2) any dividends or dividend equivalents that are credited with respect to any such shares will be subject to all of the terms and conditions applicable to such shares under the terms of the applicable award agreement (including, without limitation, any vesting conditions), and (3) any dividends or dividend equivalents that are credited with respect to any such shares will be forfeited to us on the date, if any, such shares are forfeited to or repurchased by us due to a failure to meet any vesting conditions under the terms of the applicable award agreement.
Terms of Options
A stock option is the right to purchase shares of our common stock at a fixed exercise price during a specified period of time. Stock option grants may be incentive stock options or nonstatutory stock options. Each option is evidenced by a stock option agreement. The Board of Directors determines the terms of a stock option including the exercise price, the form of consideration paid on exercise, the vesting schedule, restrictions on transfer and the term of the option.
Generally, the exercise price of a stock option may not be less than 100% of the fair market value of the stock subject to the option on the date of grant. Options granted under the 2020 Plan will vest at the rate specified in the option agreement.
The term of an option granted under the 2020 Plan will be determined by the Board of Directors, but may not exceed ten years. The Board of Directors will determine the time period, including the time period following a termination of an optionholder’s continuous service relationship with us or any of our affiliates, during which an optionholder has the right to exercise a vested option. Unless the terms of an optionholder’s stock option agreement provide otherwise, if an optionholder’s continuous service relationship with us, or any of our affiliates, ceases for any reason other than disability or death, the optionholder may generally exercise any vested options for a period of three months following the cessation of service. Unless otherwise provided in the option agreement, if an optionholder’s service relationship with us, or any of our affiliates, ceases due to disability or death, or an optionholder dies within a certain period following cessation of service, the optionholder or a beneficiary may generally exercise any vested options for a period of eighteen months in the event of disability and eighteen months in the event of death. The Board of Directors has discretion to extend the term of any outstanding option and to extend the time period during which a vested option may be exercised following a termination of continuous service. The Board of Directors also has discretion to accelerate the vesting of an option or a stock appreciation right following a participant’s termination of continuous service or to provide in an award agreement for continued vesting of an option or a stock appreciation right following a termination of continuous service.
Acceptable forms of consideration for the purchase of our common stock issued under the 2020 Plan may include cash, payment pursuant to a “cashless” exercise program developed under Regulation T as promulgated by the Federal Reserve Board, common stock owned by the participant, payment through a net exercise feature, or other approved forms of legal consideration.
Generally, an optionholder may not transfer a stock option other than by will or the laws of descent and distribution or pursuant to a domestic relations order. However, to the extent permitted under the terms of the applicable stock option agreement, an optionholder may designate a beneficiary who may exercise the option following the optionholder’s death.
Tax Limitations on Incentive Stock Options
The aggregate fair market value, determined at the time of grant, of shares of our common stock with respect to incentive stock options that are exercisable for the first time by an optionholder during any calendar year under all of our stock plans may not exceed $100,000. The options or portions of options that exceed this limit are generally treated as nonstatutory stock options. All of the shares authorized under the 2020 Plan may be granted as incentive stock options. No incentive stock option may be granted to any person who, at the time of the grant, owns or is deemed to own stock possessing more than 10% of our total combined voting power or that of any affiliate unless the following conditions are satisfied:
● The option exercise price must be at least 110% of the fair market value of the stock subject to the option on the date of grant; and
● The term of any incentive stock option award must not exceed five years from the date of grant.
Terms of Restricted Stock Awards
Restricted stock awards are awards of shares of our common stock. Each restricted stock award is evidenced by an award agreement that sets forth the terms and conditions of the award. A restricted stock award may be granted in consideration for cash, the recipient’s services performed, or to be performed, for us or an affiliate of ours or other form of legal consideration. Shares of our common stock acquired under a restricted stock award may be subject to forfeiture in accordance with the vesting schedule determined at the time of grant. Rights to acquire shares of our common stock under a restricted stock award may be transferred only upon such terms and conditions as are set forth in the restricted stock award agreement.
Terms of Restricted Stock Unit Awards
A restricted stock unit is a right to receive stock or cash (or a combination of cash and stock) equal to the value of a share of stock at the end of a set period. No stock is issued at the time of grant. Each restricted stock unit award is evidenced by an agreement that sets forth the terms and conditions of the award. Restricted stock unit awards may be subject to vesting in accordance with a vesting schedule determined at grant. When a participant’s continuous service with us or any of our affiliates terminates for any reason, the unvested portion of the restricted stock unit award will be forfeited unless otherwise provided in the restricted stock unit award agreement.
Terms of Stock Appreciation Rights
Stock appreciation rights will be granted pursuant to a stock appreciation rights agreement. Each stock appreciation right is denominated in common stock share equivalents. The Board of Directors determines the strike price for a stock appreciation right, which generally cannot be less than 100% of the fair market value of our common stock on the date of grant. A stock appreciation right granted under the 2020 Plan vests at the rate specified in the stock appreciation right agreement as determined by the Board of Directors.
When a stock appreciation right is exercised, the holder is entitled to an amount equal to the product of (1) the excess of the per share fair market value of our common stock on the date of exercise over the strike price, multiplied by (2) the number of shares of common stock with respect to which the stock appreciation right is exercised. We may pay the amount of the appreciation in cash or shares of our common stock or a combination of both.
The Board of Directors determines the term of stock appreciation rights granted under the 2020 Plan, up to a maximum of ten years. Unless the terms of an optionholder’s stock option agreement provide otherwise, if a participant’s continuous service with us, or any of our affiliates, ceases for any reason other than disability or death, the participant may generally exercise any vested stock appreciation right for a period of three months following the cessation of service. If a participant’s service relationship with us, or any of our affiliates, ceases due to disability or death, or a participant dies within a certain period following cessation of service, the participant or a beneficiary may generally exercise any vested stock appreciation right for a period of eighteen months in the event of disability and eighteen months in the event of death. The Board of Directors has discretion to extend the term of any outstanding stock appreciation right and to extend the time period during which a vested stock appreciation right may be exercised following a termination of continuous service.
Terms of Performance Awards
The 2020 Plan provides for the grant of performance stock awards and performance cash awards. A performance award may vest or be exercised upon achievement of pre-determined performance goals during a specified period. A performance award may also require the completion of a specified period of continuous service. The length of any performance period, the performance goals to be achieved during the performance period, and the measure of whether and to what degree such performance goals have been attained will be determined by the Board of Directors.
Terms of Other Stock Awards
The Board of Directors may grant other forms of stock awards that are valued in whole or in part by reference to the value of GCEH common stock. Subject to the provisions of the 2020 Plan, the Board of Directors has the authority to determine the persons to whom and the dates on which such other stock awards will be granted, the number of shares of common stock (or cash equivalents) to be subject to each award, and other terms and conditions of such awards. Such awards may be granted either alone or in addition to other stock awards granted under the 2020 Plan. Such other forms of stock awards may be subject to vesting in accordance with a vesting schedule determined at grant.
Corporate Transactions; Changes in Control
Corporate Transaction. In the event of certain significant corporate transactions, the Board of Directors has the discretion to take one or more of the following actions with respect to outstanding stock awards under the 2020 Plan:
● Arrange for assumption, continuation, or substitution of a stock award by a surviving or acquiring entity (or its parent company);
● Arrange for the assignment of any reacquisition or repurchase rights applicable to any shares of our common stock issued pursuant to a stock award to the surviving or acquiring corporation (or its parent company);
● Accelerate the vesting and exercisability of a stock award followed by the termination of the stock award;
● Arrange for the lapse of any reacquisition or repurchase rights applicable to any shares of our common stock issued pursuant to a stock award; and
● Arrange for the surrender of a stock award in exchange for a payment equal to the excess of (1) the value of the property the holder of the stock award would have received upon the exercise of the stock award, over (2) any exercise price payable by such holder in connection with such exercise.
The Board of Directors need not take the same action for each stock award.
For purposes of the 2020 Plan, a corporate transaction will be deemed to occur in the event of (1) the consummation of a sale of all or substantially all of our consolidated assets, (2) the consummation of a sale of at least 90% of our outstanding securities, (3) the consummation of a merger or consolidation in which we are not the surviving corporation, or (4) the consummation of a merger or consolidation in which we are the surviving corporation but shares of our outstanding common stock are converted into other property by virtue of the transaction.
Change in Control. A stock award may be subject to additional acceleration of vesting and exercisability upon or after specified change in control transactions (as defined in the 2020 Plan), as provided in the stock award agreement or in any other written agreement between us or any affiliate and the participant.
Duration, Suspension, Termination and Amendment of the 2020 Plan
The Board of Directors may suspend or terminate the 2020 Plan at any time. Unless sooner terminated by our Board of Directors, the 2020 Plan shall automatically terminate on April 9, 2030, which is the day before the tenth anniversary of the date the 2020 Plan was adopted by the Board of Directors. No awards may be granted under the 2020 Plan while the 2020 Plan is suspended or after it is terminated.
The Board of Directors may amend the 2020 Plan at any time. However, no amendment or termination of the plan will adversely affect any rights under awards already granted to a participant unless agreed to by the affected participant. Furthermore, without stockholder approval, the Board of Directors does not have the right or authority (1) to increase the aggregate number of shares of common stock (including upon the exercise of incentive stock options) that may be issued under the 2020 Plan, other than in connection with specified capitalization adjustments such as stock splits and stock dividends and the other transactions described above under “Stock Available for Awards,” (2) to amend the provisions in the 2020 Plan relating to a prohibition on the repricing of stock awards, (3) to amend the 2020 Plan in any respect that requires stockholder approval under applicable stock exchange rules, or (4) to amend the 2020 Plan in any respect that requires stockholder approval under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), or any other applicable law.
Tax Withholding
The Board of Directors may require a participant to satisfy any federal, state, local, or foreign tax withholding obligation relating to a stock award by (1) causing the participant to tender a cash payment, (2) withholding shares of common stock from the shares of common stock issued or otherwise issuable to the participant in connection with the award, (3) withholding cash from an award settled in cash or from other amounts payable to the participant, or (4) by other method set forth in the award agreement.
U.S. Federal Income Tax Consequences
The following is a summary of the principal United States federal income tax consequences to participants and the Company with respect to participation in the 2020 Plan. The summary is not intended to be exhaustive and does not discuss the income tax laws of any local, state or foreign jurisdiction in which a participant may reside. The information is based upon current federal income tax rules and therefore is subject to change when those rules change. The 2020 Plan is not qualified under the provisions of Section 401(a) of the Code, and is not subject to any of the provisions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974. Our ability to realize the benefit of any tax deductions described below depends on our generation of taxable income as well as the satisfaction of our tax reporting obligations.
Incentive Stock Options
The 2020 Plan provides for the grant of stock options that qualify as “incentive stock options,” as defined in Section 422 of the Code. Under the Code, an optionholder generally is not subject to ordinary income tax upon the grant or exercise of an incentive stock option. If the optionholder holds a share received on the exercise of an incentive stock option for more than two years from the date the option was granted and more than one year from the date the option was exercised, which is referred to as the required holding period, the difference, if any, between the amount realized on a sale or other taxable disposition of that share and the holder’s tax basis in that share will be long-term capital gain or loss.
If, however, an optionholder disposes of a share acquired on exercise of an incentive stock option before the end of the required holding period, which is referred to as a disqualifying disposition, the optionholder generally will recognize ordinary income in the year of the disqualifying disposition equal to the excess, if any, of the fair market value of the share on the date the incentive stock option was exercised over the exercise price. However, if the sales proceeds are less than the fair market value of the share on the date of exercise of the option, the amount of ordinary income recognized by the optionholder will not exceed the gain, if any, realized on the sale. If the amount realized on a disqualifying disposition exceeds the fair market value of the share on the date of exercise of the option, that excess will be short-term or long-term capital gain, depending on whether the holding period for the share exceeds one year.
We will not be allowed an income tax deduction with respect to the grant or exercise of an incentive stock option or the disposition of a share acquired on exercise of an incentive stock option after the required holding period. If there is a disqualifying disposition of a share, however, we will generally be allowed an income tax deduction in an amount equal to the taxable ordinary income realized by the optionholder, subject to the provisions of Section 162(m) of the Code summarized below.
Nonstatutory Stock Options
Generally, there is no taxation upon the grant of a nonstatutory stock option if the option is granted with an exercise price equal to, or greater than, the fair market value of the underlying stock on the grant date. On exercise, an optionholder will recognize ordinary income equal to the excess, if any, of the fair market value on the date of exercise of the stock over the exercise price. Generally, the optionholder’s tax basis in those shares will be equal to their fair market value on the date of exercise of the option, and the optionholder’s capital gain holding period for those shares will begin on that date. Subject to the provisions of Section 162(m) of the Code, we will generally be entitled to an income tax deduction equal to the taxable ordinary income realized by the optionholder.
Restricted Stock
Generally, the recipient of a restricted stock award will recognize ordinary income at the time the stock is received equal to the excess, if any, of the fair market value of the stock received over any amount paid by the recipient in exchange for the stock. If, however, the stock is not vested when it is received (for example, if the employee is required to work for a period of time in order to have the right to sell the stock), the recipient generally will not recognize income until the stock becomes vested, at which time the recipient will recognize ordinary income equal to the excess, if any, of the fair market value of the stock on the date it becomes vested over any amount paid by the recipient in exchange for the stock. A recipient may, however, file an election with the Internal Revenue Service, within 30 days of his or her receipt of the stock award, to recognize ordinary income, as of the date the recipient receives the award, equal to the excess, if any, of the fair market value of the stock on the date the award is granted over any amount paid by the recipient in exchange for the stock. The recipient’s basis for the determination of gain or loss upon the subsequent disposition of shares acquired from a restricted stock award will be the amount paid for such shares plus any ordinary income recognized either when the stock is received or when the stock becomes vested.
Subject to the provisions of Section 162(m) of the Code, we will generally be entitled to an income tax deduction equal to the taxable ordinary income realized by the recipient of the restricted stock award.
Restricted Stock Units
Generally, no taxable income is recognized upon receipt of a restricted stock unit award. The recipient will recognize ordinary income in the year in which the shares subject to that unit are actually issued to the participant (or cash in lieu of shares is delivered to the recipient) in an amount equal to the fair market value of the shares on the date of delivery. Subject to the provisions of Section 162(m) of the Code and the satisfaction of a tax reporting obligation, we generally will be entitled to an income tax deduction equal to the amount of taxable ordinary income recognized by the recipient.
Stock Appreciation Rights
Generally, stock appreciation rights are subject to similar tax rules as nonstatutory stock options. This means that, generally, no taxable income is realized upon the receipt of a stock appreciation right. Upon exercise of the stock appreciation right, the fair market value of the shares (or cash in lieu of shares) received, less any strike price paid for such shares, is recognized as ordinary income to the recipient in the year of such exercise. Subject to the provisions of Section 162(m) of the Code, we will generally be entitled to an income tax deduction equal to the amount of taxable ordinary income recognized by the participant.

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ITEM 12. SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS
ITEM 12. SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT AND RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS.
The following table sets forth certain information regarding beneficial ownership of Common Stock as of March 31, 2021 by (a) each person known by us to own beneficially 5% or more of each class of our outstanding voting shares (i.e. Common Stock and our Series B Preferred Stock), (b) each of our named executive officers listed in the Summary Compensation Table and each of our directors and (c) all executive officers and directors of GCEH as a group. As of March 31, 2021, there were 37,436,875 shares of Common Stock issued and outstanding. As of the same date, there were 13,000 shares of our Series B Preferred Stock issued and outstanding, which shares of preferred stock were convertible into an aggregate of 1,181,818 shares of Common Stock. Unless otherwise noted, we believe that all persons named in the table have sole voting and investment power with respect to all the shares beneficially owned by them.
Name and Address of Beneficial Owner (1) Shares Beneficially
Owned (2) Percent
of Class of
Common Stock
Preferred Stock:
Corporativo LODEMO S.A DE CV
Calle 18, #201-B x 23 y 25,
Colonias Garcia Gineres, C.P. 97070
Merida, Yucatan, Mexico 909,099 (3) 2.4 %
Greenrock Capital Holdings LLC
10531 Timberwood Circle, Suite D
Louisville, Kentucky 40223 272,728 (4) .*
Common Stock:
Pacific Sequoia Holdings LLC
250 University Avenue, Palo Alto, CA 94301 4,000,000 (5) 10.7 %
Roll Energy Investments LLC
11444 West Olympic Boulevard, 10th Floor
Los Angeles, California 90064 3,309,450 8.8 %
Michael Zilkha
1001 McKinney, Suite 1900
Houston TX 77002 5,238,355 14.0 %
Directors/Named Executive Officers:
Richard Palmer 23,123,672 (6) 41.4 %
David R. Walker 340,354 (7) *
Martin Wenzel 100,000 (8) *
Noah Verleun 7,026,086 (9) 16 %
Ralph Goehring 33,333 (8) *
All Named Executive Officers and Directors as a group (5 persons) 30,623,445 (10) 49.1 %
* Less than 1%
(1) Unless otherwise indicated, the business address of each person listed is c/o Global Clean Energy Holdings, Inc., 2790 Skypark Drive, Torrance, California, 90505.
(2) For purposes of this table, shares of Common Stock are considered beneficially owned if the person directly or indirectly has the sole or shared power to vote or direct the voting of the securities or the sole or shared power to dispose of or direct the disposition of the securities. Shares of Common Stock are also considered beneficially owned if a person has the right to acquire beneficial ownership of the shares upon exercise or conversion of a security within 60 days of March 31, 2021.
(3) Consists of 909,091 shares of Common Stock that may be acquired upon the conversion of shares of Series B Preferred Stock. Corporativo LODEMO, controlled by Emilio Alberto Loret, owns 10,000 shares of our Series B Preferred Stock, which represents 76.92% of the issued and outstanding shares of that class of securities.
(4) Consists of 272,728 shares of Common Stock that may be acquired upon the conversion of shares of Series B Preferred Stock. Greenrock, controlled by Chad Middledorf, owns 3,000 shares of our Series B Preferred Stock, which represents 23.08% of the issued and outstanding shares of that class of securities.
(5) Based on information disclosed in a Schedule 13G jointly filed with the SEC on February 1, 2019 by Pacific Sequoia Holdings LLC (“PSH”), Jeffrey S. Skoll, and GrowthWorks Canadian Fund Ltd. (“GWC”), according to which PSH, Mr. Skoll and GWC share voting and dispositive control over the shares. Jeffrey S. Skoll, as the indirect sole member of PSH, may be deemed to share the power to direct the voting or disposition of the shares on behalf of PSH. The address of PSH and Jeffrey S. Skoll is 250 University Avenue, Palo Alto, CA 94301. The address of GWC is McCarthy Tétrault LLP, Box 48, Suite 5300, Toronto Dominion Bank Tower, Toronto, ON M5K 1E6.
(6) Includes 7,345,148 shares that may be acquired upon the conversion of the principal balance, plus all accrued interest, under an outstanding convertible promissory note, and 11,000,000 shares that may be acquired upon the exercise of currently exercisable options.
(7) Includes 250,000 shares that may be acquired upon the exercise of options that were vested as of March 31, 2021.
(8) Consists of shares that may be acquired upon the exercise of options.
(9) Includes 6,250,000 shares that may be acquired upon the exercise of currently exercisable options.
(10) Includes (i) 17,633,333 shares that may be acquired upon the exercise of currently exercisable options, and (ii) 7,345,148 shares that may be acquired upon the conversion of the principal balance, plus all accrued interest, under an outstanding convertible promissory note.

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ITEM 13. CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS
ITEM 13. CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS, AND DIRECTOR INDEPENDENCE.
Certain Relationships and Related Transactions
Martin Wenzel was appointed to the Board of Directors on May 7, 2020. Until his appointment as a director, Mr. Wenzel served as an advisor to the Board pursuant to that certain Board Advisor Agreement, dated June 21, 2019. Under the Board Advisor Agreement, Mr. Wenzel was granted a five-year non-qualified stock option to purchase 50,000 shares, which option automatically vested upon Mr. Wenzel’s appointment to the Board. The foregoing options have an exercise price of $0.80 per share.
Director Independence
Common Stock is quoted on the OTCQB Venture Market. The OTCQB Venture Market does not maintain any standards regarding the “independence” of the directors on GCEH’s Board of Directors, and we are not otherwise subject to the requirements of any national securities exchange or an inter-dealer quotation system with respect to the need to have a majority of our directors be independent.
In the absence of such requirements, we have elected to use the definition for “director independence” under the Nasdaq Stock Market’s listing standards, which defines an “independent director” as “a person other than an officer or employee of us or its subsidiaries or any other individual having a relationship, which in the opinion of our Board of Directors, would interfere with the exercise of independent judgment in carrying out the responsibilities of a director.” The definition further provides that, among others, employment of a director by us (or any parent or subsidiary of ours) at any time during the past three years is considered a bar to independence regardless of the determination of our Board of Directors.
Our Board of Directors has determined that Mr. Walker, a non-employee director, is an independent director as defined in the Nasdaq rules relating to director independence. In addition, the Board believes that Mr. Wenzel is an independent director under Nasdaq’s rules. Although Mr. Wenzel served as an advisor to the Board in 2019 and 2020, his sole compensation for such services consisted of the grant of options having a value of less than $120,000. While Mr. Wenzel is independent for the purposes of serving on the Board, he is not eligible to serve as an independent director on the Company’s Audit Committee.

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ITEM 14. PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTING FEES AND SERVICES
ITEM 14. PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTING FEES AND SERVICES.
Hall & Company Certified Public Accountants and Consultants, Inc. (“Hall & Company”) has served as the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm since 2014, Effective January 1, 2021, Hall & Company merged with and into Macias, Gini & O’Connell, LLC (“MGO”), and Hall & Company’s audit operations and the professional staff of Hall & Company joined MGO. Accordingly, since January 8, 2021 MGO has been the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm. Aggregate fees billed to us by Hall & Company and MGO with respect to our 2019 and 2020 fiscal years were as follows:
Audit Fees $ 220,000 $ 165,000
Audit-Related Fees - -
Tax Fees - -
All Other Fees - 2,650
Total $ 220,000 $ 167,650
In accordance with the SEC’s definitions and rules, “audit fees” are fees that the Company paid for professional services for the audit of our consolidated financial statements included in our Form 10-K, and review of financial statements included in its quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and for services that are normally provided in connection with regulatory filings. “Audit-related fees” represent fees for professional services for assurance and related services that are reasonably related to the performance of the audit or review of financial statements and that are not reported under the “audit fees” category. “Tax fees” are fees for tax compliance, tax advice and tax planning.
During the periods covered by this Form 10-K, the Company’s Audit Committee only had one member. Because of the size of the Board and a one-member Audit Committee, all of the audit-related services and other services described in the above table were pre-approved by our Board, including the sole member of the Audit Committee.
PART IV

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ITEM 15. EXHIBITS, FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES
ITEM 15. EXHIBITS AND FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES.
(a) The following documents are filed as part of this Annual Report:
(1) Financial Statements. Reference is made to the Index to Consolidated Financial Statements of the Company attached hereto following the signature page of the Annual Report.
(2) Financial Statement Schedule. All consolidated financial statement schedules are omitted because they are not applicable or the amounts are immaterial, not required, or the required information is presented in the Consolidated Financial Statements of the Company attached hereto following the signature page of the Annual Report.
(b) The exhibits listed in the Exhibit Index below are filed with, or are incorporated by reference into, this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Exhibit Number Description
2.1 Agreement and Plan of Merger regarding the reincorporation of Registrant as a Delaware corporation (incorporated herein by reference to Appendix C to the Registrant’s Definitive Proxy Statement on Schedule 14A filed with the Commission on June 2, 2010).
3.1 Certificate of Incorporation (incorporated herein by reference to Appendix D to the Registrant’s Definitive Proxy Statement on Schedule 14A filed with the Commission on June 2, 2010).
3.2 Certificate of Amendment to its Certificate of Incorporation
3.3 Bylaws (incorporated herein by reference to Appendix E to the Registrant’s Definitive Proxy Statement on Schedule 14A filed with the Commission on June 2, 2010).
4.1 Specimen stock certificate (filed as Exhibit 4.1 to the Registrant’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on October 6, 2020, and incorporated herein by reference)
4.2 Description of the Securities of Global Clean Energy Holdings, Inc. Registered Pursuant to Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (filed as Exhibit 4.2 to the Registrant’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on October 6, 2020, and incorporated herein by reference)
10.1 Office Lease, dated as of February 2, 2014, between Global Clean Energy Holdings, Inc. and Skypark Atrium, LLC (filed as Exhibit 10.9 to the Registrant’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on March 31, 2015, and incorporated herein by reference)
10.2 First Amendment to Office Lease, dated as of January 15, 2019, between Global Clean Energy Holdings, Inc. and Skypark Atrium, LLC (filed as Exhibit 10.2 to the Registrant’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on October 6, 2020, and incorporated herein by reference)
10.3 Second Amendment to Lease, dated May 1, 2019, between Global Clean Energy Holdings, Inc. and Skypark Atrium, LLC (filed as Exhibit 10.3 to the Registrant’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on October 6, 2020, and incorporated herein by reference)
10.4 Global Clean Energy Holdings, Inc. 2010 Equity Incentive Plan (incorporated herein by reference to Appendix B to the Registrant’s Definitive Proxy Statement on Schedule 14A filed with the Commission on June 2, 2010).#
10.5 Form of Indemnification Agreement entered into between Registrant and its directors and executive officers (filed as Exhibit 10.5 to the Registrant’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on October 6, 2020, and incorporated herein by reference) #
10.6 Omitted
10.7 Employment Agreement, dated October 15, 2018, by and between Global Clean Energy Holdings, Inc. and Richard Palmer (filed as Exhibit 10.7 to the Registrant’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on October 6, 2020, and incorporated herein by reference)#
10.8 Amendment No. 1 to Employment Agreement, dated May 7, 2020, by and between Global Clean Energy Holdings, Inc. and Richard Palmer (filed as Exhibit 10.8 to the Registrant’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on October 6, 2020, and incorporated herein by reference)#
10.9 Convertible Promissory Note, dated October 16, 2018, issued by Global Clean Energy Holdings, Inc. to Richard Palmer (filed as Exhibit 10.9 to the Registrant’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on October 6, 2020, and incorporated herein by reference)#
10.10 Employment Agreement, dated January 15, 2018, by and between Global Clean Energy Holdings, Inc. and Noah Verleun (filed as Exhibit 10.10 to the Registrant’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on October 6, 2020, and incorporated herein by reference)#
10.11 Amendment No. 1 to Employment Agreement, dated May 7, 2020, by and between Global Clean Energy Holdings, Inc. and Noah Verleun (filed as Exhibit 10.11 to the Registrant’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on October 6, 2020, and incorporated herein by reference)#
10.12 Offer Letter, dated May 17, 2020, by and between Global Clean Energy Holdings, Inc. and Ralph Goehring (filed as Exhibit 10.12 to the Registrant’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on October 6, 2020, and incorporated herein by reference)#
10.13 Global Clean Energy Holdings, Inc. 2020 Equity Incentive Plan (incorporated herein by reference to Appendix B to the Registrant’s Proxy Statement on Schedule PRE 14A filed with the Commission on July 30, 2020)#
10.14 Form of Stock Option Grant Notice of Global Clean Energy Holdings, Inc. 2020 Equity Incentive Plan*
10.15 Share Purchase Agreement, dated April 29, 2019, by and between Alon Paramount Holdings, Inc. and GCE Holdings Acquisitions, LLC (filed as Exhibit 10.15 to the Registrant’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on October 6, 2020, and incorporated herein by reference)
10.16 First Amendment to Share Purchase Agreement, dated as of September 27, 2019, by and between Alon Paramount Holdings, Inc. and GCE Holdings Acquisitions, LLC (filed as Exhibit 10.16 to the Registrant’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on October 6, 2020, and incorporated herein by reference)
10.17 Second Amendment to Share Purchase Agreement, dated as of October 4, 2019, by and between Alon Paramount Holdings, Inc. and GCE Holdings Acquisitions, LLC (filed as Exhibit 10.17 to the Registrant’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on October 6, 2020, and incorporated herein by reference)
10.18 Third Amendment to Share Purchase Agreement, dated as of October 11, 2019, by and between Alon Paramount Holdings, Inc. and GCE Holdings Acquisitions, LLC (filed as Exhibit 10.18 to the Registrant’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on October 6, 2020, and incorporated herein by reference)
10.19 Fourth Amendment to Share Purchase Agreement, dated as of October 28, 2019, by and between Alon Paramount Holdings, Inc. and GCE Holdings Acquisitions, LLC (filed as Exhibit 10.19 to the Registrant’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on October 6, 2020, and incorporated herein by reference)
10.20 Fifth Amendment to Share Purchase Agreement, dated as of March 23, 2020, by and between Alon Paramount Holdings, Inc. and GCE Holdings Acquisitions, LLC (filed as Exhibit 10.20 to the Registrant’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on October 6, 2020, and incorporated herein by reference)
10.21 Sixth Amendment to Share Purchase Agreement, dated as of May 4, 2020, by and between Alon Paramount Holdings, Inc. and GCE Holdings Acquisitions, LLC (filed as Exhibit 10.21 to the Registrant’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on October 6, 2020, and incorporated herein by reference)
10.22 Control, Operation And Maintenance Agreement, dated May 4, 2020, by and between GCE Operating Company, LLC and BKRF OCB, LLC (filed as Exhibit 10.22 to the Registrant’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on October 6, 2020, and incorporated herein by reference)
10.23 Call Option Agreement, dated May 7, 2020, by and among Global Clean Energy Holdings, Inc., Alon Paramount Holdings, Inc., and GCE Holdings Acquisitions, LLC (filed as Exhibit 10.23 to the Registrant’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on October 6, 2020, and incorporated herein by reference)
10.24 Credit Agreement, dated as of May 4, 2020, between BKRF OCB, LLC, BKRF OCP, LLC, and the senior lenders referred to therein*†(filed as Exhibit 10.24 to the Registrant’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on October 6, 2020, and incorporated herein by reference)
10.25 Credit Agreement, dated as of May 4, 2020, between BKRF HCB, LLC, BKRF HCP, LLC, and the mezzanine lenders referred to therein (filed as Exhibit 10.25 to the Registrant’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on October 6, 2020, and incorporated herein by reference)†
10.26 Product Offtake Agreement, dated as of April 10, 2019, between ExxonMobil Oil Corporation and GCE Holdings Acquisitions LLC (filed as Exhibit 10.26 to the Registrant’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on October 6, 2020, and incorporated herein by reference)†
10.27 Engineering, Procurement and Construction Agreement, dated April 30, 2020, between ARB, Inc. and GCE Holdings Acquisitions, LLC (filed as Exhibit 10.27 to the Registrant’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on October 6, 2020, and incorporated herein by reference)†
10.28 License Agreement, dated October 24, 2018, between Haldor Topsoe A/S and GCE Holdings Acquisitions, LLC (filed as Exhibit 10.28 to the Registrant’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on October 6, 2020, and incorporated herein by reference)†
10.29 Amendment No. 1 to Credit Agreement and Waiver, dated as of July 1, 2020, between BKRF OCB, LLC, BKRF OCP, LLC, and the senior lenders referred to therein*
10.30 Amendment No. 1 to Credit Agreement, dated as of September 28, 2020, between BKRF HCB, LLC, BKRF HCP, LLC, and the mezzanine lenders referred to therein*
10.31 Amendment No. 2 to Credit Agreement, dated as of September 28, 2020, between BKRF OCB, LLC, BKRF OCP, LLC, and the senior lenders referred to therein*
10.32 Amendment No. 3 to Credit Agreement, dated as of March 27, 2021, between BKRF OCB, LLC, BKRF OCP, LLC, and the senior lenders referred to therein*
10.33 Consent No. 2 And Amendment No. 2 To Credit Agreement, dated as of March 27, 2020, between BKRF HCB, LLC, BKRF HCP, LLC, and the mezzanine lenders referred to therein*
21.1 Subsidiaries of Registrant*
23.1 Consent of Hall & Company Certified Public Accountants, Inc.*
23.2 Consent of Macias, Gini & O’Connell, LLC*
24.1 Power of Attorney (included on signature page)
31.1 Certification of the Chief Executive Officer pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.*
31.2 Certification of the Chief Financial Officer pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.*
32.1 Certification of the Chief Executive Officer pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.*
32.2 Certification of the Chief Financial Officer pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.*
The following financial information from the Annual Report on Form 10-K of Global Clean Energy Holdings, Inc. for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, formatted in XBRL (eXtensible Business Reporting Language): (1) Balance Sheets as of December 31, 2020 and 2019; (2) Statements of Income for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019; (3) Statements of Shareholders’ Equity for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019; (4) Statements of Cash Flows for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019; and (5) Notes to Financial Statements.
* Filed herewith
† Certain confidential portions of this Exhibit were omitted by means of marking such portions with an asterisk because the identified confidential portions are (i) not material and (ii) would be competitively harmful if publicly disclosed.
# Indicates a management contract or compensatory plan or arrangement.