Aemetis And Trillium Sign 600,000 MMBtu RNG Deal
Aemetis, a renewable fuels company focused on negative carbon intensity products, announced that its Aemetis Biogas Services subsidiary has signed a six-year supply agreement with Trillium to provide an estimated 600,000 MMBtu of renewable natural gas (RNG) to be used as transportation fuel in California. According to Aemetis, the RNG commitment replaces up to 4.3 million gallons (16.3 liters) of diesel fuel, primarily used in heavy duty passenger and cargo vehicles.
“Trillium’s mission is to help customers meet their ESG goals, and providing RNG is a big part of that,” said Ryan Erickson, vice president of Trillium. “We’re excited to partner with Aemetis to use biogas to get drivers back on the road quickly and safely.”
Aemetis completed Phase 1 of its Central Dairy Digester network in 2020 with two fully operational digesters and 4 miles (6.4 km) of pipeline. The biogas from Phase 1 has been used as process energy at the Aemetis Keyes biorefinery to reduce the facility’s dependency on petroleum-based natural gas and to decrease the carbon intensity (CI) of fuel ethanol produced.
Phase 2 of the network consists of a centralized biogas upgrading facility, a utility gas pipeline interconnection unit, 10 dairy digesters, and 32 miles (51.5 km) of additional pipeline which are planned to be completed by Q4 2022. Aemetis plans to have more than 60 digesters built and operating by the end of 2026 which are designed to produce approximately 1.6 million MMBtu of RNG per year, displacing approximately 12.5 million gallons (47.3 liters) of diesel per year.
Aemetis has completed construction and is currently commissioning the centralized gas cleanup facility and utility gas interconnect located at the Keyes Ethanol biorefinery where dairy biogas will be upgraded to RNG and injected into the utility pipeline through an interconnection with Pacific Gas and Electric. Upon receiving pathway certification from the California Air Resources Board (CARB), the fuel is scheduled to begin deliveries to Trillium in late 2022.
“We are excited to announce our initial RNG supply agreement with Trillium, one of the largest distributors of RNG vehicle fuel in the United States,” said Andy Foster, president of Aemetis Biogas. “As a member of the Love’s Family of Companies, Trillium has a long and respected history of providing valuable products to the transportation sector. We are pleased to supply our below-zero carbon intensity RNG fuel to Trillium’s extensive network of fueling facilities across California.”
Aemetis has a mission to transform traditional petroleum-based energy with below-zero carbon intensity transportation fuels. The company 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 truck, airplane, and ship fleets. According to the company, its low-carbon fuels have substantially reduced carbon intensity compared to standard petroleum fossil-based fuels across their lifecycle.
