Gevo Inc (NASDAQ:GEVO) announced that production operations at its advanced, renewable fuels production facility located in Luverne, Minnesota have restarted, and it is expected to produce fuel-grade, renewable isobutanol (IBA).
The Englewood, Colorado-based company said the IBA produced will be used as a feedstock for Gevo to produce sustainable aviation fuel and renewable premium gasoline to fulfill existing sales contracts. These renewable hydrocarbons will be produced in Silsbee, Texas at the South Hampton Resources Inc hydrocarbon production facility. Gevo also expects to utilize some of the IBA produced to develop certain IBA specialty markets.
Significantly, the production operations at the Luverne Facility will allow Gevo to test and evaluate certain potential unit operations that may be incorporated into Gevo’s advanced Net-Zero 1 production facility that is expected to begin production in 2024 in Lake Preston, South Dakota.
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Agri-Energy LLC, Gevo’s wholly-owned subsidiary that owns the Luverne facility, has re-hired multiple former employees and is in the process of hiring an additional 11 employees to produce the IBA with the goal to have 30 full-time employees.
“The team in Luverne has done an exceptional job restarting isobutanol operations safely and with a focus on continuous improvement for future growth,” Agri-Energy President Dr Paul Bloom said in a statement. “We appreciate the continued support we’ve received from the State of Minnesota and City of Luverne and are happy to be increasing the number of high-quality jobs at the site. We see that Luverne has potential to serve specialty markets other than jet and gasoline. We expect to announce more in the coming months as the rest of the plans come together.”
Meanwhile, Gevo CEO Patrick R Gruber noted that the company is getting geared up for what will be the “next stage of Gevo’s growth”, which is “coming at us at an accelerated rate.”
“We are leveraging our existing Luverne location to optimize conversion of our isobutanol production to develop the standard in operating discipline for efficient and safe IBA production facilities,” said Gruber. “I like the option of being able to test unit operations that could help optimize and train people for Net-Zero 1. It will be critical for Net-Zero 1 to start-up smoothly and the best way to do that is to do a good job training our people. I expect Luverne to provide some of that experience.”
Contact the author Uttara Choudhury at uttara@proactiveinvestors.com
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