Aemetis Negotiating Supply of 1.6 Million Metric Tonnes per Year of CO2 for Carbon Sequestration at California Biofuels Plant Sites

Two Carbon Sequestration Wells in Central California Under Development at Aemetis Biofuels Plant Sites to Capture and Sequester Two Million Metric Tonnes per Year of Carbon Dioxide

CUPERTINO, CA, June 23, 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 it has opened negotiations for the supply of 1.6 million metric tonnes (MT) per year of CO₂ for Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) to be located at or near the two Aemetis renewable fuels plant sites in Central California near Modesto.   It is anticipated that the capacity of each injection well site will be approximately one million metric tonnes per year, for a combined total of two million MT of CO₂ sequestration per year.

“The existing California LCFS and IRS 45Q carbon capture and sequestration programs could potentially generate approximately $500 million per year of revenues from injecting a combined two million metric tonnes of CO₂ per year at these two plant sites,” said Eric McAfee, Chairman and CEO of Aemetis, Inc.  “The Aemetis Carbon Capture projects are expected to benefit producers of traditional and renewable fuels that supply California by offsetting carbon emissions with carbon sequestration.”

According to the EPA, approximately one metric tonne of CO₂ is emitted for every 2,500 miles driven in a passenger car.  Capturing and sequestering two million metric tonnes of CO₂ can offset the CO₂ emissions from up to 5 billion passenger car miles each year, equal to the annual carbon emissions from approximately 350,000 cars.

Recently, the Aemetis Carbon Capture, Inc. subsidiary was established to build carbon sequestration projects to generate LCFS and IRS 45Q credits by injecting CO₂ into wells which are monitored for emissions to ensure the long-term sequestration of carbon underground. California’s Central Valley is well established as a major region for large-scale natural gas production and CO₂ injection projects due to the subsurface geologic formation that retains gases.

When related to transportation fuels produced for sale in the California market, CO₂ sequestered underground is estimated to generate revenue of approximately $200 per metric tonne under the California Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS).  The IRS 45Q tax credit value for sequestered CO₂ is approximately $50 per metric tonne.  The combined $250 per metric tonne of revenues from the capture and storage of CO₂ is expected to increase significantly due to pending Congressional legislation to support CCS.

A Stanford University Center for Carbon Storage study issued in October 2020 cited ethanol plants in Central California as the most economic sites for CCS in California, comparing 61 carbon emission facilities in the state.  The other emission sources in the study that produce transportation fuels, primarily oil refineries, are the primary potential suppliers of CO₂ to the Aemetis carbon storage injection wells and monitoring facilities.

The planned 52 dairies in the Aemetis Biogas project are expected to produce approximately 50,000 metric tonnes of CO₂ each year.  The renewable jet/diesel plant under development is expected to produce more than 200,000 metric tonnes per year of CO₂.  The remaining 1.6 million metric tonnes of annual CO₂ injection capacity are expected to be filled by compressed CO₂ delivered via truck or rail to the two Aemetis CCS sites from renewable diesel plants and refineries that supply fuels to the California market.

The Aemetis Carbon Zero project, the Aemetis Biogas renewable natural gas project, and energy efficiency upgrades to the Aemetis Keyes plant include $57 million of grant funding and other support from the USDA, the US Forest Service, the California Energy Commission, the California Department of Food and Agriculture, CAEFTA, and PG&E’s energy efficiency program.

About Aemetis

Aemetis has a mission to transform renewable energy with below zero carbon intensity transportation fuels. Aemetis has launched the Carbon Zero production process to decarbonize the transportation sector using today’s infrastructure.

Aemetis Carbon Zero products include zero carbon fuels that can “drop in” to be used in airplane, truck and ship fleets.  Aemetis low-carbon fuels have substantially reduced carbon intensity compared to standard petroleum fossil-based fuels across their lifecycle.

Headquartered in Cupertino, California, Aemetis is a renewable natural gas, renewable fuel and biochemicals company focused on the acquisition, development and commercialization of innovative technologies that replace petroleum-based products and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.  Founded in 2006, Aemetis has completed Phase 1 and is expanding a California biogas digester network and pipeline system to convert dairy waste gas into Renewable Natural Gas (RNG).  Aemetis owns and operates a 65 million gallon per year ethanol production facility in California’s Central Valley near Modesto that supplies about 80 dairies with animal feed.  Aemetis also owns and operates a 50 million gallon per year production facility on the East Coast of India producing high quality distilled biodiesel and refined glycerin for customers in India and Europe.  Aemetis is developing the Carbon Zero sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and renewable diesel fuel biorefineries in California to utilize distillers corn oil and other renewable oils to produce low carbon intensity renewable jet and diesel fuel using cellulosic hydrogen from waste orchard and forest wood, while pre-extracting cellulosic sugars from the waste wood to be processed into high value cellulosic ethanol at the Keyes plant.  Aemetis holds a portfolio of patents and exclusive technology licenses to produce renewable fuels and biochemicals.  For additional information about Aemetis, please visit www.aemetis.com.

Safe Harbor Statement

This news release contains forward-looking statements, including statements regarding our assumptions, projections, expectations, targets, intentions or beliefs about future events or other statements that are not historical facts.  Forward-looking statements in this news release include, without limitation, statements relating to our ability to commercialize and scale technology, the ability to obtain sufficiently low Carbon Intensity scores to achieve below zero transportation fuel, the development of the Aemetis Carbon Capture projects, and the ability to access the funding required to execute on plant construction and operations.  Words or phrases such as “anticipates,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “believes,” “estimates,” “expects,” “intends,” “plans,” “predicts,” “projects,” “showing signs,” “targets,” “will likely result,” “will continue,” “enable” or similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements.  These forward-looking statements are based on current assumptions and predictions and are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties.  Actual results or events could differ materially from those set forth or implied by such forward-looking statements and related assumptions due to certain factors, including, without limitation, competition in the ethanol, biodiesel and other industries in which we operate, commodity market risks including those that may result from current weather conditions, financial market risks, customer adoption, counter-party risks, risks associated with changes to federal policy or regulation, and other risks detailed in our reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), including the Aemetis Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020, and in our subsequent filings with the SEC.  We are not obligated, and do not intend, to update any of these forward-looking statements at any time unless an update is required by applicable securities laws.

External Investor Relations
Contact:
Kirin Smith
PCG Advisory Group
(646) 863-6519
ksmith@pcgadvisory.com

Company Investor Relations/
Media Contact:
Todd Waltz
(408) 213-0940
investors@aemetis.com