Aemetis Receives Final Permit to Build Next 21 Miles of Phase 2 Biogas Pipeline

Fully Permitted to Begin Construction of 21 Miles of Phase 2 Biogas Pipeline in Stanislaus County, Calif. 

CUPERTINO, CA, Aug. 06, 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 the final permit has been approved to begin construction of the next 21 miles of the Aemetis Biogas Phase 2 pipeline in Stanislaus County, Calif. 

“Issuance of the Phase Two Pipeline county road encroachment permit is a very significant milestone for the Aemetis Biogas RNG project,” said Andy Foster, President of Aemetis Biogas, Inc. “Having now cleared the two major permitting steps required to build the next 21 miles of biogas pipeline, we are poised to rapidly deploy the infrastructure necessary to connect our network of dairy digesters and accelerate the adoption of dairy biogas as a negative carbon intensity fuel to replace diesel in heavy trucks and buses.”

This significant project milestone allows the installation of biogas pipeline in Stanislaus County roads for construction of a pipeline that extends the existing 4-mile pipeline by an additional 21 miles. The pipeline will convey conditioned biogas from dairies to the Company’s centralized gas cleanup facility which is currently under construction at the Aemetis Advanced Fuels Keyes ethanol plant. 

At the Keyes plant, the biogas will be upgraded to negative carbon intensity (CI) Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) for use as transportation fuel in trucks and buses. The RNG will be either delivered into the PG&E utility pipeline located onsite at the Aemetis ethanol plant, dispensed to trucks at the RNG fueling station being built at the Aemetis plant, or used as process energy in the Aemetis facility to replace petroleum-based natural gas.

The Biogas Pipeline Encroachment Permit was issued by the Stanislaus County Department of Public Works. Previously, Aemetis announced that it received environmental approval for 32 miles of biogas pipeline from the Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors for the Phase Two pipeline project’s Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration (IS/MND), the key approval necessary to meet the permitting requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) prior to pipeline construction. The CEQA approval confirms that mitigation measures in the biogas project will avoid or mitigate any impacts on the environment.

The Company is completing the permitting process for 13 miles of additional biogas pipeline in Merced County to connect additional dairies to the Aemetis biogas cleanup facility at the ethanol facility. The initial four-mile Phase 1 pipeline project was completed and commissioned in the third quarter of 2020 in conjunction with the completion of the Company’s first two dairy digesters.

Once complete, the biogas clean-up hub will produce more than 1 million MMBtu of RNG. Recently, Aemetis received a-426 CI score for gas from the company’s first two dairy digesters, which is currently being utilized as process energy at the ethanol facility. Additionally, the system will displace 6.88 million diesel gallon equivalents (DGE) and eliminate 2,632,149 metric tonnes of CO2 equivalents per year. The $12 million pipeline project and the $12 million biogas cleanup facility are funded in part by a $4.2 million grant from the California Energy Commission.

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 airplanes, 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 from renewable oils and orchard and forest waste. 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 the development and construction of the biogas clean-up and compression unit, construction and operation of the biogas pipeline, our compliance with governmental programs, and our ability to access markets and funding to execute our 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.

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Contact:

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Company Investor Relations/

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investors@aemetis.com