The company will generate higher-value D5 advanced biofuels renewable identification numbers (RINs) using the plant’s combined heat & power (CHP) system.
The EPA approval also includes D5 RIN generation for separated food waste feedstock used at the Keyes plant, allowing Aemetis to qualify its ethanol as Advanced Biofuels through the processing of certain food/beverage waste streams into ethanol.
RINs are numerical codes created with every gallon of biofuel domestically produced or imported into the US.
Aemetis chairman and CEO Eric McAfee said, "After several years of work and significant investment, today the Aemetis Keyes plant was approved by the EPA as the first corn ethanol plant in the US to be converted to use lower-carbon feedstocks and renewable energy sources to produce Advanced Biofuels and earn valuable D5 RINs," McAfee stated.