Aemetis Receives California Low-Carbon Fuel Pathway Approval for Six Dairy Biogas Facilities

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On November 10, U.S. renewable fuels company Aemetis announced that the California Air Resources Board has approved provisional Low Carbon Fuel Standard pathways for six dairy manure anaerobic digestion facilities operated by its subsidiary Aemetis Biogas, effective October 1, 2026. The six approved pathways have an average carbon intensity of negative 351 grams of carbon dioxide equivalent per megajoule, which will increase the number of low-carbon fuel credits the company's central biogas project can generate.

The facilities are part of the Aemetis Biogas central anaerobic digestion project located near Modesto, California. The project currently operates 14 anaerobic digestion facilities sourcing feedstock from 17 dairy farms and is expected to produce approximately 600,000 million British thermal units of renewable natural gas per year. Biogas from each digestion facility is transported via approximately 58 kilometers of pipeline to the Keyes central processing facility, where it is cleaned and upgraded to pipeline-quality standards before being injected into Pacific Gas and Electric Company's natural gas pipeline network.

The six approved pathways correspond to carbon intensity accounting for the production of biogas from dairy manure and subsequent renewable natural gas. The California Low Carbon Fuel Standard requires fuel producers to obtain corresponding fuel pathway and carbon intensity certifications in order to calculate reportable low-carbon fuel credits. The negative carbon intensity reflects the accounting result after incorporating emission reduction benefits such as avoided methane emissions from anaerobic treatment of dairy manure into the lifecycle assessment.

Previously, seven dairy biogas fuel pathways of Aemetis were approved by the California Air Resources Board in June 2025, with an average carbon intensity of negative 384 grams of carbon dioxide equivalent per megajoule. With the addition of the six new pathways, the project's production pathways recognized under the Low Carbon Fuel Standard have further increased. Two additional dairy biogas digestion facilities recently built by the company are expected to apply for pathway approval in 2027 through the Tier 1 application process.

In addition to low-carbon fuel credits, the renewable natural gas produced by the project can also generate revenue through pipeline gas sales and federal Renewable Fuel Standard credits. Aemetis has signed agreements with 50 local dairy farms to build biogas digestion facilities and will continue to expand its manure collection, anaerobic treatment, and renewable natural gas production network.