Aemetis, Inc. (Cupertino, Calif.) signed a biofuels offtake agreement with international renewable fuels supplier Murex, LLC for an estimated $200 million of low-carbon biofuels to be delivered during 2021 to 2023.
Founded 30 years ago and based in Plano, Texas, Murex is a renewable fuels terminal, marketing, logistics, and supply company with operations and assets throughout North America. The terms of the agreement provide that the fuel and the related Low Carbon Fuel Standard and Renewable Fuel Standard Credits will be sold at a fixed discount to the market price at the time of delivery.
“By deploying exciting new technologies to significantly reduce the carbon intensity of traditional renewable fuels, Aemetis has demonstrated its expertise in the management of complex projects to meet the high standards required by California regulators and customers,” said Robert Wright, President of Murex, LLC. “Murex is uniquely positioned to maximize the value of these low carbon fuels through our extensive railcar and terminal network, including access to markets beyond California as low carbon fuel standard regulations are adopted in other states and countries.”
“As we implement significant energy efficiency upgrades to our Keyes, California biorefinery, Aemetis is excited to partner with Murex, a world-class organization with deep expertise and global reach in the renewable fuels sector,” said Andy Foster, President of Aemetis Advanced Fuels, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Aemetis, Inc. “By converting our Keyes plant to utilize solar and other low or below zero carbon intensity energy sources instead of high carbon intensity petroleum natural gas, we will produce lower CI renewable fuel and significantly reduce the carbon footprint of our biorefinery. The solar microgrid with battery storage will help power the Mitsubishi ZEBREX™ Membrane Dehydration System, a mechanical vapor recompression system, and allow additional energy efficiency upgrades,” added Foster.
“Our goal is to eliminate the use of petroleum natural gas in our plant as these upgrade projects are completed over the next 12 months,” said Eric McAfee, Chairman and CEO of Aemetis. “Once our Keyes plant is converted from utilizing petroleum natural gas to renewable electricity, coupled with negative carbon intensity dairy RNG and carbon sequestration, the plant may produce the lowest carbon intensity ethanol in the world. The Murex team will play a key role in our strategy to expand market reach and diversification for our low carbon intensity ethanol,” noted McAfee.
The Aemetis plant upgrades are supported by $16.7 million of grants from the California Energy Commission and Pacific Gas & Electric Company.