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Gevo, Inc. (Nasdaq:GEVO), the world’s only commercial producer of renewable isobutanol, announced today that Highlands EnviroFuels, LLC has signed a letter of intent to become a Gevo licensee to produce renewable isobutanol.
Highlands will build a commercial-scale “Brazilian-style” syrup mill in Highlands County, Florida, which would have a production capacity of approximately 200,000 metric tons of fermentable sugar per year. The facility will process locally grown sugar cane and sweet sorghum to a high quality syrup as a clean sugar stream for fermentation and recovery of isobutanol. The isobutanol plant would be bolted on to the back-end of the syrup mill and have a nameplate capacity of approximately 20-25 million gallons per year.
“We look forward to partnering with Gevo because their renewable isobutanol enables multiple end-market opportunities for us, both as a ‘drop-in’ molecule for the specialty fuels and chemicals markets, and as hydrocarbon products utilizing Gevo’s downstream alcohols-to-hydrocarbons technologies,” said Bradley Krohn, President of Highlands. “In particular, isobutanol has a significant market opportunity in Florida with the boating industry given isobutanol’s favorable properties as compared to ethanol. We are eager to finalize the details of a binding agreement so that we can start constructing the facility.”
Patrick Gruber, Gevo’s Chief Executive Officer, said, “We are very pleased to be working with Highlands and having them join Gevo as a licensee. This new partnership shows the flexibility of Gevo’s GIFT® technology to convert a wide range of sugar sources into isobutanol. It also continues to validate the interest in licensing our intellectual property portfolio as we look to transition our business to focus more on a licensing model.”
Gevo’s underlying technology uses a combination of synthetic biology, metabolic engineering, chemistry and chemical engineering to focus primarily on the production and sale of isobutanol, as well as related products from renewable feedstocks. Gevo’s strategy is to commercialize biobased alternatives to petroleum-based products to allow for the optimization of fermentation facilities’ assets, with the ultimate goal of maximizing cash flows from the operation of those assets. Gevo produces isobutanol, ethanol and high-value animal feed at its first fermentation plant in Luverne, MN.
Gevo has also developed technology to produce hydrocarbon products from renewable alcohols. Gevo currently operates its first biorefinery in Silsbee, TX, in collaboration with South Hampton Resources Inc., to produce renewable jet fuel, octane, and ingredients for plastics like polyester.
