Aemetis receives $22.4m from sale of 45Z clean fuel tax credits

Aemetis (NASDAQ: AMTX) has received $22.4 million from the sale of Section 45Z Clean Fuel Production Tax Credits generated by its ethanol and renewable natural gas (RNG) operations during 2026. The California-based producer said the credits were valued at approximately $0.33 per gallon of ethanol and $62 per MMBtu of RNG before sale discounts and transaction costs, based on revised federal modelling published on 8 September 2026.

The transaction represents a concrete monetisation of the 45Z mechanism, which allows eligible clean-fuel producers to transfer tax credits to third-party buyers in exchange for immediate cash, rather than waiting to offset tax liabilities directly. Aemetis did not name the buyer or buyers, nor did it disclose the discount applied to face value, which is typical in tax-credit transfer markets.

The 45Z credit update

The revised values stem from an updated version of the 45ZCF-GREET emissions model, issued by the US Department of Energy on 8 September 2026. The update was required under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed into law in July 2025, and introduces two substantive changes relevant to Aemetis: it adds new pathways for RNG produced from dairy manure anaerobic digestion, and it now allows ethanol producers to claim credit for low-carbon corn grown under regenerative agricultural practices.

Aemetis said it expects the per-gallon value of its ethanol credits to increase once documentation for the use of low-carbon corn feedstock is in place. Chairman and chief executive Eric McAfee described the credits as "a recurring source of cash flow," and said the company is executing on a broader monetisation strategy tied to planned increases in production volumes and energy-efficiency investments.

Market context

Section 45Z, introduced as part of the Inflation Reduction Act and subsequently modified by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, has become one of the more consequential incentives shaping the US biofuels sector. Unlike its predecessor credits, 45Z is technology-neutral in principle, rewarding producers based on the lifecycle carbon intensity of the fuel rather than the feedstock category. That design creates both opportunity and complexity: producers with lower-carbon supply chains earn higher per-unit credits, but verifying those chains through accepted models such as GREET requires detailed agricultural and operational data.

The credit transfer mechanism, also introduced by the Inflation Reduction Act, has broadened the pool of effective beneficiaries by allowing producers without large tax liabilities to monetise credits at a discount. Several financial intermediaries and large corporates have entered this market as credit buyers, though transaction terms are rarely disclosed publicly.

Aemetis operates a 65 million gallon per year ethanol plant in California's Central Valley, a dairy-biogas digester network producing pipeline-quality RNG, and an 80 million gallon per year biodiesel facility in India. The company is also developing a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) plant and a carbon dioxide sequestration project in California, both of which could generate additional credit-eligible volumes under future policy conditions.

Policy path

McAfee's public statement urged the US Treasury and Department of Energy to extend 45Z eligibility to emissions captured from expanding dairy and farm operations, signalling that Aemetis sees further regulatory scope as a growth lever rather than simply a windfall from existing operations. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act's adjustments to the GREET model are widely viewed as supportive of corn-ethanol and dairy-RNG producers, two of the constituencies that lobbied actively during the bill's passage.

Near-term milestones for investors to watch include the formal documentation of low-carbon corn feedstock, progress toward the SAF plant's final investment decision, and any further GREET model updates that could alter per-unit credit values in 2027 and beyond.