Aemetis Receives Approval for 32 Mile Extension of Biogas Pipeline for Dairy RNG Project

Company Passes Key Environmental Permitting Milestone; Proceeding with Plans for Pipeline and Dairy Digester Construction in the Second Quarter of 2021 

CUPERTINO, Calif. , March 17, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NewMediaWire – Aemetis, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMTX), a renewable natural gas and renewable fuels company focused on below zero carbon intensity products, today announced that by a unanimous vote the Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors accepted and approved the Aemetis Biogas Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration for construction of a 32 mile extension to the existing Aemetis Biogas four mile private pipeline that was completed in 2020. 

The pipeline is designed to carry biogas from dairies as part of the Aemetis Central Dairy Digester Project, which is planned to span across the Stanislaus and Merced counties in Central California.  The approval is necessary to meet the permitting requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) prior to pipeline construction and confirms that mitigation measures in the proposed project will avoid or mitigate any impacts on the environment.

“Receiving CEQA approval for our pipeline project is a significant milestone for the Aemetis Biogas renewable natural gas (RNG) project and puts us on a solid path to begin construction of the 32 mile pipeline extension that will convey biogas from approximately 30 dairy digesters to our centralized gas cleanup unit co-located at the Aemetis Advanced Fuels Keyes ethanol plant,” said Eric McAfee, Chairman and CEO of Aemetis, Inc.  “After the dairy biogas is upgraded to RNG by the gas cleanup unit at the Keyes plant, we expect to have multiple alternatives to generate revenues from Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) and Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) credits.  We plan on using the RNG to fuel trucks by dispensing RNG at the renewable compressed natural gas (R-CNG) fueling station we are building at the Keyes plant, inject the RNG into the PG&E utility pipeline using an interconnection unit that is scheduled for completion in Q3 2021, or utilize the RNG as process energy to displace carbon-intensive petroleum natural gas at the Keyes biorefinery.  We believe this flexible go-to-market approach ensures our ability to capture the maximum value for LCFS and RFS credits and gives us a unique advantage as a dairy RNG producer in California,” added McAfee.

The Aemetis Biogas Central Dairy Digester Project is a collection of dairy lagoon anerobic digesters that are being built, owned, and operated by Aemetis Biogas LLC, utilizing waste animal manure to generate renewable methane gas to produce RNG.  About 25% of the methane emissions in California are emitted from dairy waste lagoons, and California Senate Bill 1383 provides grant funding and mandates for the capture of methane by dairies.

In the fourth quarter of 2020, Aemetis Biogas began operating the first two digesters and the initial four-mile pipeline in the RNG project.  The Company plans to begin construction of the next five dairy digesters and the additional 32 miles of biogas pipeline in the second quarter of 2021, with five more dairy digesters set to begin construction in the third quarter of 2021 and five digesters beginning in Q1 2022, for a planned total of seventeen dairy digesters and a 36 mile pipeline in operation by Q2 2022.  

The common membership units of Aemetis Biogas LLC are wholly owned by Aemetis, Inc. 

About Aemetis

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 renewable jet and diesel fuel integrated biorefineries in California to utilize distillers corn oil from ethanol plants to produce low carbon intensity renewable jet and diesel fuel using cellulosic hydrogen from waste orchard wood and other negative carbon intensity biomass, and pre-extract cellulosic sugars from the waste biomass to be processed into high value cellulosic ethanol at the Keyes plant.  Aemetis holds a portfolio of patents and related 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 the construction and operation of the dairy digester and pipeline project in Central California, the continuation of compliance with governmental programs, and the ability to access markets and funding to execute our biogas business plan.  Words or phrases such as “anticipates,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “believes,” “estimates,” “expects,” “intends,” “plans,” “predicts,” “projects,” “showing signs,” “targets,” “view,” “will likely result,” “will continue” 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, including our 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 Contact:
Todd Waltz
Chief Financial Officer
(408) 213-0925
twaltz@aemetis.com