Aemetis Establishes Carbon Capture Subsidiary for CO2 Sequestration to Further Reduce the Carbon Intensity of Dairy RNG and Renewable Fuels

California Central Valley is an Established CO₂Injection Region Supporting Carbon Sequestration Projects for Aemetis Dairy RNG Projects, Ethanol Plant, and Renewable Jet/Diesel Plant Under Development

CUPERTINO, CA, April 01, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NewMediaWire -- Aemetis, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMTX), a renewable natural gas and renewable fuels company focused on negative carbon intensity products, announced today that the company’s board of directors has approved the establishment of a new subsidiary named Aemetis Carbon Capture, Inc. California’s Central Valley is well established as a major region for large-scale CO₂injection projects due to the geologic formation of subsurface shale caprock that safely contains and retains gases.

The company’s carbon capture business unit will initially capture, dehydrate, compress, and sequester CO₂from Aemetis Biogas anaerobic dairy digester projects to further reduce the carbon intensity (CI) of its dairy biogas, which was recently certified by CARB as negative 426 (-426) for a Fuel Pathway established by Aemetis utilizing biogas from the company’s first two operating dairy lagoon anaerobic digesters for the production of renewable fuel. Currently, the -426 Aemetis dairy biogas carbon intensity score does not include the value of CO₂ Carbon Capture & Sequestration (CCS).

The planned 52 dairies in the Aemetis Biogas projects are expected to produce approximately 1.4 million MMBtu’s of dairy Renewable Natural Gas and about 50,000 metric tonnes of CO₂each year.  The Aemetis ethanol plant currently produces approximately 150,000 metric tonnes of CO₂per year, and the renewable jet/diesel plant under development is expected to produce 160,000 tonnes per year of CO₂.  

When related to transportation fuels production, CO₂sequestered underground is estimated to generate approximately $200 per metric tonne under the California Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS).  The IRS 45Q tax credit value for sequestered CO₂is approximately $50 per tonne.  

According to the EPA, approximately one metric tonne of CO₂is emitted for every 2,500 miles driven in a passenger car. Capturing and sequestering the annual CO₂from biogas generated by 52 dairies can offset the CO₂emissions from up to 125,000,000 passenger car miles. 

“Significant new legislation has been introduced in Congress to support the existing California LCFS and IRS 45Q carbon intensity reduction programs with additional carbon sequestration grants, investment tax credits, and other support,” said Eric McAfee, Chairman and CEO of Aemetis, Inc.  “The formation of Aemetis Carbon Capture, Inc.is a key milestone in achieving a significant increase in the value of RNG by adding Carbon Capture & Sequestration to reduce the carbon intensity of the RNG produced from dairies.  The Aemetis Biogas projects with carbon sequestration by Aemetis Carbon Capture provide dairies with a compelling opportunity to avoid liability for methane emissions under the LCFS program.  Over the next five years, Aemetis plans to invest more than $300 million into dairy RNG and CCS projects that are already operating or in development,” added McAfee.