ENGLEWOOD, Colo., April 22, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gevo, Inc. (Nasdaq:GEVO), the world's only commercial producer of renewable isobutanol, announced today that it has come to an agreement with Lufthansa to evaluate Gevo's renewable jet fuel with the goal of approving Gevo's alcohol-to-jet fuel (ATJ) for commercial aviation use. Lufthansa's testing is being supported through work with the European Commission.
"ATJ, like the Fischer-Tropsch pathway, has the potential to use lignocellulosic waste as feedstock, but promises to do so at less cost than Fischer-Tropsch," said Alexander Zschocke, Lufthansa Group Senior Manager Aviation Biofuels. Lufthansa is a leader in the marketplace for alternative fuels.
"By using isobutanol as a renewable raw material for producing jet fuel, the resulting jet fuel has the mixtures of molecules typical of petro-based jet fuel making it directly compatible with engines and infrastructure. Renewable jet embodies the potential of cleaner, greener, and as we scale up, cost competitive drop-in fuels," said Patrick Gruber, Gevo's chief executive officer. "We greatly appreciate Lufthansa's and the European Commission's support of this effort. Through initiatives like this, the commercial airlines are seeking to prove out ATJ and move it towards commercialization. ATJ from Gevo's isobutanol is a clean burning, homegrown, drop-in jet fuel, and we have a potential route to deliver aviation biofuels at scale and at competitive cost."
Gevo's patented ATJ fuel is truly a drop-in fuel, designed to be fully compliant with aviation fuel specifications and provide equal performance, including fit-for-purpose properties.
About Gevo
Gevo is a leading renewable chemicals and next-generation biofuels company. Gevo's patent-protected, capital-light business model converts existing ethanol plants into bio-refineries to make isobutanol. This versatile chemical can be directly integrated into existing chemical and fuel products to deliver environmental and economic benefits. Gevo has executed initial commercial-scale production runs at its isobutanol facility in Luverne, Minn., constructed in conjunction with ICM, a leading provider of proprietary ethanol process technology, and has a marquee list of partners including The Coca-Cola Company, Sasol Chemical Industries, and LANXESS, Inc., an affiliate of LANXESS Corporation, among others. Gevo is committed to a sustainable bio-based economy that meets society's needs for plentiful food and clean air and water. For more information, visit www.gevo.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this press release may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements include statements that are not purely statements of historical fact, and can sometimes be identified by our use of terms such as "intend," "expect," "plan," "estimate," "future," "strive" and similar words. These forward-looking statements are made on the basis of the current beliefs, expectations and assumptions of the management of Gevo and are subject to significant risks and uncertainty. Investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements. All such forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and the company undertakes no obligation to update or revise these statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Although the company believes that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, these statements involve many risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from what may be expressed or implied in these forward-looking statements. For a further discussion of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those expressed in these forward-looking statements, as well as risks relating to the business of Gevo in general, see the risk disclosures in the Annual Report on Form 10-K of Gevo for the year ended December 31, 2012, as amended, and in subsequent reports on Forms 10-Q and 8-K and other filings made with the SEC by Gevo.