Aemetis implemented the California Low Carbon Ethanol Feedstock Program in collaboration with Pacific Ethanol and Calgren, and with implementation support from Chromatin, Inc., Penny Newman, the A.L. Gilbert Company, and JD Heiskell. This program was a transformative feedstock development initiative to assist the state's major ethanol producers in increasing feedstock flexibility to meet both the renewable fuel and greenhouse gas reduction goals stipulated under the federal Renewable Fuel Standard and the state's Low Carbon Fuel Standard. The project had several objectives, including carbon intensity reduction for ethanol, the California In-State Sorghum Initiative to bolster sorghum production in California, and California Air Resources Board certification to validate carbon intensity reductions achieved by the project. The project successfully converted 80,429 tons of grain sorghum sourced from the US Midwest into fuel ethanol at Aemetis' existing ethanol production facility in Keyes, California. During the project period, Aemetis produced a total of 5.7 million gallons of sorghum-based ethanol with a weighted average carbon intensity value of 76.1 g CO2e/MJ and generating more than a 9,600 metric ton CO2e reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. Sorghum processing yielded no significant difference in ethanol quality in comparison to corn-based ethanol. The project also successfully completed sorghum grain trials that achieved yields exceeding 6,800 pounds per acre, demonstrated that sorghum can reach reasonable yields even under reduced water application, and brokered the production of sorghum on 1,400 acres in California--the largest in-state annual sorghum production in over 30 years.
