Gevo Inc announced the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory recently partnered with it to perform a critical lifecycle analysis of its next-generation technology.
Using data provided by Gevo, a Colorado-based producer of energy-dense liquid hydrocarbons such as sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and renewable premium gasoline, the company said Argonne’s Greenhouse gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy use in Technologies (GREET) Model is expected to yield results regarding the carbon footprints of these fuels within a few months.
The effort is funded by the DOE’s Bioenergy Technologies Office, which is part of the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE).
GREET’s pioneering lifecycle analysis considers a host of different fuel production pathways. Results include energy use, emissions of greenhouse gases and air pollutants, and water consumption related to the production processes. The analysis also includes results across the whole of the fuel pathway system, from capturing carbon via photosynthesis to the final burning of the fuel.
Argonne said Gevo’s commitment to reach net-zero carbon emissions with advanced renewable hydrocarbon fuels, including SAF and renewable premium gasoline made from field corn, will show how deep decarbonization of biofuels can be achieved holistically.
“Biofuels are low carbon already but Gevo wants it to be net-zero carbon,” Uisung Lee, an energy systems analyst in the Systems Assessment Center of the Energy Systems Division at Argonne, said in a statement.
“That’s an ambitious goal and one that would be a game-changer in the biofuel industry.”
Gevo said Argonne will examine emissions at every stage of the supply chain, including each possible step from production to combustion.
“While it might be impossible to reach zero carbon emissions at every stage, sustainable farming practices and carbon capture from biofuel plants and re-use might help the company reach its goal when measured across the whole biofuel supply chain system,” said Michael Wang, an Argonne distinguished fellow, senior scientist, and the director of the Systems Assessment Center of the Energy Systems division at the laboratory.
Gevo said it has used the GREET model as a guidepost for its process due to the importance of the tools it provides. Good data and models are used for decision making, especially when making choices about technologies across its business system.
“It’s why our plants are expected to operate on renewable energy, including wind turbines, and why we chose to integrate renewable biogas into our production system,” CEO Patrick Gruber said.
“I expect that, as we work through the analysis with Argonne’s team, we will come up with additional great ideas to get our carbon footprint down even further.”
The GREET software provides users with a ready-use life cycle analysis tool to perform simulations of alternative transportation fuels and vehicle technologies in just a few minutes. At present, there are more than 48,000 registered GREET users worldwide.
Wang said that Argonne plans on releasing its findings from this collaboration soon.
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