PIERRE, S.D. (KELO) -- The federal government is conditionally committing to help finance construction of a major processing facility in eastern South Dakota that could produce up to 60 million gallons of aircraft jet fuel from corn annually. The U.S. Department of Energy on Wednesday announced a conditional $1.46 billion loan guarantee for the Gevo Net-Zero 1 plant at Lake Preston. The facility would make renewable diesel and renewable naphtha fuels as well and would also produce an estimated 1.3 billion pounds of high-value protein products, such as animal feed, and 30 million pounds of corn oil. The announcement referred repeatedly to the Biden-Harris administration's commitment to clean energy. South Dakota's Republican governor, Kristi Noem, is a strong supporter of the Gevo project but has been a frequent critic of both President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate hoping to succeed Biden. Noem was on stage earlier this week with Republican former President Donald Trump, who's trying to win back the White House. The USDOE announcement explained what Gevo must still do to receive the loan guarantee. "While this conditional commitment indicates DOE’s intent to finance the project, DOE must complete an environmental review, and the company must satisfy certain technical, legal, environmental, commercial, and financial conditions before the Department can decide whether to enter into definitive financing documents and fund the loan guarantee," the statement said. In a news release, Gevo CEO Patrick Gruber praised the federal decision. “This marks a watershed moment for the Net-Zero 1 project and a critical step forward in Gevo’s mission to transform the aviation industry by providing a scalable, sustainable, and economical renewable-carbon-based jet fuel—SAF,” he said. Men’s pro tennis tournament coming to Sioux Falls The Governor's Office of Economic Development has made various financing commitments to the project as well, including a bond issue for a livestock nutrient management system (see related story) and a reinvestment payment of up to nearly $12.3 million as compensation for state sales taxes on the project's construction. State campaign-finance records show that earlier this year Gevo donated $167,000 to the supporters' side in a ballot-measure fight over Referred Law 21, which deals with carbon dioxide pipelines and other linear transmission facilities. Summit Carbon Solutions plans to apply for a permit from the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission to build a pipeline that would collect CO2 from various corn-based fuel plants including Gevo and then bury the CO2 underground in North Dakota. South Dakota voters will decide in the November 5 general election whether the referred law, SB201, takes effect.