DOE licenses second patent to Aemetis for waste wood feedstocks
May 26, 2021
BY Aemetis Inc.
Aemetis Inc. announced May 26 the grant of a second patent for technology exclusively licensed to Aemetis that enables the production of low carbon intensity renewable fuels from waste wood feedstocks.
U.S. Patent No. 2018/0346938 “High Gravity, Fed-Batch Ionic Liquid Based Process for Deconstructing Biomass” protects the use of ionic liquids to extract sugars from a wide variety of waste biomass, including forest and orchard wood. This process is expected to provide up to a 90 percent reduction in feedstock cost and to increase the value of renewable fuels by significantly reducing carbon intensity.
“This recently patented ionic liquids technology was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy and the California Energy Commission during development by Sandia National Labs, the Joint Bioenergy Institute and Aemetis,” stated Goutham Vemuri, vice president of technology development at Aemetis. “The process enables waste wood to be used in two important ways as valuable feedstock: extracting sugar for conversion into cellulosic ethanol at our ethanol plant to generate an estimated $5 of revenue per gallon, and converting the remaining lignin into renewable hydrogen for the hydrotreatment of vegetable oils to produce low carbon intensity jet and diesel fuel.”
Advertisement
“Forest and orchard trees absorb CO2 along with solar energy and nutrients to grow,” stated Eric McAfee, chairman and CEO of Aemetis. “By using waste wood and other biomass, Aemetis is expanding the range of feedstocks that can be used in the production of high value renewable fuels that work with existing jet, diesel and flex-fuel engines,” McAfee noted.
The first Aemetis Carbon Zero production plant — “Carbon Zero 1” — is scheduled for construction at the 140-acre Riverbank Industrial Complex in Central California, a former Army ammunition production facility with 710,000 square feet of existing production buildings.
Advertisement
The Carbon Zero 1 renewable jet and diesel plant and energy efficiency upgrades to the Aemetis ethanol plant include funding and other support from the USDA, the US Forest Service, the California Energy Commission, the California Department of Food and Agriculture, and PG&E.
Related Stories
The USDA on April 14 announced the cancellation of its Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities program. Select projects that meet certain requirements may continue under a new Advancing Markets for Producers initiative.
The Michigan Advanced Biofuels Coalition and Green Marine are partnering to accelerating adoption of sustainable biofuels to improve air quality and reduce GHG emissions in Michigan and across the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway.
The USDA reduced its outlook for 2024-’25 soybean oil use in biofuel production in its latest World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report, released April 10. The outlook for soybean oil pricing was revised up.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration reduced its 2025 forecasts for renewable diesel and biodiesel in its latest Short-Term Energy Outlook, released April 10. The outlook for “other biofuel” production, which includes SAF, was raised.
FutureFuel Corp. on March 26 announced the restart of its 59 MMgy biodiesel plant in Batesville, Arkansas. The company’s annual report, released April 4, indicates biodiesel production was down 24% last year when compared to 2023.
Upcoming Events
