September 10, 2012
Chevron Lummus Global and ARA Announce Selection by Aemetis to Provide Technology for 100% Drop-in Alternative Fuels Production
[On September 6, 2012, Chevron Lummus and Applied Research Associates posted the following media release]
Biofuels ISOCONVERSION process licensed by Aemetis to produce
renewable jet and diesel fuels from plant oils
Bloomfield, NJ – Sep 6, 2012 – Chevron Lummus Global (CLG) and Applied Research Associates (ARA) announced today that they have been selected by Aemetis, Inc. to provide technology to produce 100% drop-in alternative fuels at sites in North America.
Aemetis has signed the first license agreement of CLG and ARA’s Biofuels ISOCONVERSION process technology, which can produce Jet A, JP-8, JP-5, F-76, gasoline and diesel fuel from a diverse array of plant oil feedstocks. The license agreement grants Aemetis Advanced Fuels Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Aemetis, the use of the Biofuels ISOCONVERSION process in Aemetis biorefineries throughout North America.
The low-cost process uses water at high temperature and pressure to convert renewable oils into a crude oil intermediate in a process that takes less than five minutes. The crude oil intermediate is then reacted with hydrogen over CLG ISOCONVERSION™ Catalysts and processed into alternative fuels. These fuels are virtually indistinguishable from their petroleum counterparts.
“Expanding or converting existing biofuels and refining facilities to use the Biofuels ISOCONVERSION process accelerates the scale up of production to supply the 70 billion gallon-per-year global market for jet fuel and the 50 billion gallon US market for diesel by providing low investment cost and operating costs, competitive with petroleum processing technologies,” said Eric McAfee, Chairman and CEO of Aemetis.
“The Biofuels ISOCONVERSION process minimizes hydrogen, water, chemical, catalyst, and energy consumption resulting in a low carbon footprint, while producing high yields of pure hydrocarbon fuels identical to all petroleum fuels specifications including density and energy content. We look forward to our continued relationship with Aemetis, as they build refineries that will increase our domestic energy supply without subsidies,” said Chuck Red, Biofuels Program Manager at ARA.
“Chevron Lummus Global is a technology leader in hydroprocessing technology with more than 400 refinery units operating worldwide,” stated Leon de Bruyn, Managing Director of CLG. “The Biofuels ISOCONVERSION process is different from other licensed technologies in that the renewable diesel and jet fuel produced from the unit are truly fungible fuel products meeting all ASTM and military quality specifications. This offers our clients a unique advantage by eliminating the need to blend petroleum derived diesel and jet into biofuels to meet current quality requirements.”
Media Contacts:
Ms. Lori De Amaral Alisa Kinsaul
Chevron Lummus Global Applied Research Associates, Inc. (ARA)
(510) 242- 3177 (850) 914-3188
LDAM@chevron.com akinsaul@ara.com
About Aemetis
Headquartered in Cupertino, California, Aemetis is an advanced fuels and renewable chemicals company. Aemetis owns and operates a 55 million gallon renewable fuels plant in California; and built, owns and operates a 50 million gallon capacity renewable chemicals and advanced fuels production facility on the east coast of India. Aemetis operates a research and development laboratory at the Maryland Biotech Center, and holds four granted patents and ten pending patents on its Z-microbe and related technology for the production of renewable fuels and chemicals. For additional information about Aemetis, please visit www.aemetis.com.
About Chevron Lummus Global
CLG licenses refining hydroprocessing technologies and catalyst systems worldwide, and is a 50-50 joint venture between Chevron Products Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Chevron Corporation, and Lummus Technology Inc., a C&BI Company. CLG’s research and development staff is continuously seeking advancements in catalyst and technology that will improve operating economics. CLG is the leading Process Technology Licensor for Alternate Sources of Fuels including: Oil Sands, Bitumen, Shale Oil, Biofuels, Extra Heavy Oils. For more information about Chevron Lummus Global please visit http://www.chevron.com/products/sitelets/refiningtechnology/about_che_tech.aspx
About ARA
ARA is an international research and engineering company recognized for providing technically excellent solutions to complex and challenging problems in the physical sciences. Founded in Albuquerque, NM in 1979, ARA has offices throughout the United States and Canada, providing a broad range of technical expertise in defense technologies, civil technologies, computer software and simulation, systems analysis, environmental technologies, and testing and measurement. For more information about ARA’s diverse and innovative capabilities, please visit www.ara.com.