Gevo Refutes Butamax’s Unfounded Allegations of KARI Enzyme Patent Infringement

Gevo, Inc. (NASDAQ: GEVO), an innovative renewable chemicals and advanced biofuels company, responded to the latest lawsuit filed by Butamax™ Biofuels LLC (Butamax) related to U.S. Patent No. 8,129,162 covering a modified Pseudomonas KARI enzyme.

“Butamax’s allegations of patent infringement are unfounded and a reaction to our recent successes,” said Brett Lund, EVP & General Counsel at Gevo. “We are on the forefront of commercializing isobutanol. We specialize in converting existing ethanol plants into biorefineries to create building block products for the chemical and fuel industries. Our technology is simply different.”

Gevo asserts that it does not infringe the enzyme claimed in Butamax’s patent. “Gevo has never and will never use the Pseudomonas KARI enzyme described in Butamax’s claims,” added Lund. Gevo has developed a fundamentally different enzyme derived from E. coli, covered under U.S. Patent No. 8,097,440.

“The USPTO agrees with the position that our E. coli NKR enzyme is different from Butamax’s Pseudomonas KARI enzyme, because we cited Butamax’s patent application as prior art when we were awarded our NKR patent,” said Lund.

“As we’ve advanced, we’ve realized the value of our unique approach to isobutanol production and our R&D team has developed intellectual property for every phase of production including protecting own enzyme pathway. Gevo’s technology offers our customers a unique advantage of drop-in alternatives in the petro-chemical and advanced biofuel chains.”

“We see this lawsuit as another attempt by Butamax to stall our significant advances in the commercialization of isobutanol,” continued Lund. “Our development goals are aggressive so opposition from competitors is expected. We are on the cusp of starting up the world's first commercial renewable isobutanol plant in the next several months using our industry leading technology.”

Since January 2011, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has awarded Gevo five patents as it continues to build its extensive patent portfolio consisting of more than 300 patents and applications for the economic production of isobutanol, process innovations and downstream product applications.

About Gevo

Gevo is converting existing ethanol plants into biorefineries to make renewable building block products for the chemical and fuel industries. The Company plans to convert renewable raw materials into isobutanol and renewable hydrocarbons that can be directly integrated on a “drop in” basis into existing chemical and fuel products to deliver environmental and economic benefits. Gevo is committed to a sustainable biobased 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, 2010, and in subsequent reports on Forms 10-Q and 8-K and other filings made with the SEC by Gevo.