Aemetis, a renewable natural gas (RNG) and renewable fuels company focused on negative carbon intensity products, announced that its Aemetis Biogas subsidiary is operating the Central Dairy Project production facilities 24 hours per day, seven days per week, and has exceeded the RNG production plan by approximately 20% during Q2 2023.

The June 21st announcement by the federal EPA of the Renewable Volume Obligation for years 2023, 2024 and 2025 significantly increased the mandate for the D3 Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs) generated by RNG. Each MMBtu of dairy RNG generates 11.7 D3 RINs and the Aemetis Five Year Plan expects 1 million MMBtu in year 2025. The price of D3 RINs has already increased about 30% to $2.85 since the RVO was announced last week.

—Eric McAfee, Chairman and CEO of Aemetis

In 2016, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law Senate Bill 1383, limiting the emission of methane from dairy lagoons in California, which includes approximately 1.7 million dairy cows at more than 1,000 dairies. Aemetis Biogas was formed as a subsidiary of Aemetis, Inc. in 2018 to build a network of assets to capture methane from dairy lagoons, focused on the 80 dairies that are existing feed customers of the Aemetis ethanol plant and other local dairies that supply milk for cheese production and other products.

In January 2023, Aemetis Biogas completed and commissioned several digesters, a 40-mile biogas pipeline, a central biogas-to-RNG production facility and a PG&E gas pipeline interconnection unit. Currently, 37 dairy digesters are under development or under construction, and seven dairy digesters are fully operational.

Funding for Aemetis Biogas includes $30 million of financing from Third Eye Capital (Toronto, Canada); $23 million of grants from the California Department of Food & Ag and the CPUC grant program through PG&E; and planned funding of $100 million during 2022 and 2023 of 20-year, USDA-guaranteed loans under the Renewable Energy for America Program (REAP) as a part of ongoing annual funding of approximately $100 million per year from the REAP program during the buildout of 65 dairies in the next four years.