Aemetis sells $18 million of 45Z tax credits

Aemetis Inc. announced July 9 that its ethanol and renewable natural gas (RNG) subsidiaries have received funds from the sales of $18 million of section 45Z clean fuel production tax credits.

The sales include a $6 million tax credit generated by 2025 ethanol production and $12 million in tax credits generated by year-to-date 2026 ethanol and RNG production.

The 2026 tax credits represent approximately 33 cents per ethanol gallon and $15.20 per MMBtu of RNG.

Net cash proceeds from the transactions were approximately $14.5 million after transaction costs.

“These 45Z tax credit sales, our second and third transactions in the past six months, illustrate the value of section 45Z clean fuel production tax credits as a recurring contribution to cash flow for Aemetis’ operations,” said Eric McAfee, chairman and CEO of Aemetis. “Our first sale of 45Z credits was late last year, and we expect additional transactions in 2026 and future years. We expect the 45Z credit value to grow significantly based on planned RNG production volume increases and increased energy efficiency at the Keyes plant from mechanical vapor recompression. We expect updates to the 45ZCF-GREET model to be released imminently, including significant improvement in the dairy RNG emission rate and adopting recent USDA calculations for corn feedstock emissions reductions for ethanol production.”

The 45Z tax credits sold in the 2026 transactions were calculated under current guidance from the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the updated U.S. DOE 45ZCF-GREET model released June 12, which calculates the carbon intensity for section 45Z tax credits.

Two planned agency updates to the 45ZCF model could further increase the value of 2026 section 45Z tax credits: DOE incorporation in the 45ZCF model of the low-carbon feedstock calculator that was recently finalized by USDA and an update to the RNG portion of the 45ZCF model to separate RNG produced from dairy cows from other animal types.

“With each section 45Z sale, we are executing our tax-credit monetization strategy,” added McAfee. “These cash proceeds will continue to grow, supporting the expansion of biofuels production and creating new markets for agricultural products. We urge the treasury department and DOE to maintain the integrity and purpose of section 45Z as they continue to update their components of the program to comply with tax-credit legislation passed more than four years ago and updated by the ‘big, beautiful bill’ passed in July 2025.”