Gevo

Press Release

November 8, 2017

ENGLEWOOD, Colo., Nov. 08, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gevo, Inc. (NASDAQ:GEVO), announced today that its alcohol-to-jet fuel (ATJ) derived from renewable isobutanol is being used today by eight commercial airlines for Fly Green Day, sponsored by the O’Hare Fuel Committee, at Chicago O’Hare International Airport.  This event is the first time renewable jet fuel has been supplied at Chicago O’Hare using the existing airport fueling infrastructure, such as pipelines, terminals and tankage.

To date, airlines and airports have generally relied on alternative means of supplying renewable jet fuel to the wing, usually trucking jet fuel on site for blending and fueling. For today’s Fly Green Day, Air BP blended Gevo’s ATJ with regular fossil-based Jet A fuel, certified its quality and then supplied its customers through the airport’s main fuel hydrant system.

Commercial airlines participating in today’s event are:

-Lufthansa

-United Airlines

-Etihad

-Cathay Pacific Airways

-Emirates

-Japan Airlines

-Korean Air

-Atlas Air

“This is the first time we have supplied our customers with biojet produced from alcohol and demonstrates how we are working with multiple suppliers to build a leadership position in this area,” said Air BP’s Chief Executive Officer Jon Platt. “We anticipate that through this promotion we will inspire more of our customers to use lower carbon fuels.”

“We are excited to be a part of this project. This is the next stage in development of our goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and move forward with the full commercial deployment of renewable jet fuel,” said Thorsten Luft, Vice President Corporate Fuel for Lufthansa AG.

“This is a significant milestone as we continue to develop our ATJ platform. We fundamentally believe that our ATJ is one of the most cost competitive bio-based jet alternatives in the market place. Leveraging existing supply infrastructure should lower the full cost to serve our end customers. Jet fuel is one of Gevo’s core market segments and this represents the next step in building a profitable business from this market vertical,” said Dr. Patrick Gruber, Gevo’s Chief Executive Officer.

About Gevo

Gevo is a renewable technology, chemical products, and next generation biofuels company. Gevo has developed proprietary technology that uses a combination of synthetic biology, metabolic engineering, chemistry and chemical engineering to focus primarily on the production of isobutanol, as well as related products from renewable feedstocks. Gevo’s strategy is to commercialize bio-based 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 fermentation plant in Luverne, Minnesota. Gevo has also developed technology to produce hydrocarbon products from renewable alcohols. Gevo currently operates a biorefinery in Silsbee, Texas, in collaboration with South Hampton Resources Inc., to produce renewable jet fuel, octane, and ingredients for plastics like polyester. Gevo has a marquee list of partners including The Coca-Cola Company, Toray Industries Inc. and Total SA, among others. Gevo is committed to a sustainable bio-based economy that meets society’s needs for plentiful food and clean air and water.

Read the original press release: On Fly Green Day, Eight Airlines Fly with Gevo’s Jet Fuel from O’Hare Air BP Provides Commercial Validation of Jet Fuel Delivery System at Chicago O’Hare with Renewable Jet Fuel

Fairmont Sentinel

November 4, 21017

by Natalie Howell

U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar visited the Green Plains ethanol plant in Fairmont on Friday to talk about local and national issues with company representatives and local leaders.

The stop in Fairmont is part of a six-county tour through southern Minnesota, where Klobuchar has been meeting with different companies and local representatives to talk about the economy and issues facing communities.

Green Plains, based in Omaha, Nebraska, is the second-largest ethanol producer nationally. The Fairmont location is one of two Green Plains ethanol plants in Minnesota, with the other one in Fergus Falls. The Fairmont location has 61 employees. Executive vice president Steve Bleyl and plant manager Jon Richardson represented Green Plains in the meeting.

“Fairmont’s been good to us,” Bleyl said. “We try to keep a lot of our business local as close as we can. We try to get that money spread out.”

State Rep. Bob Gunther and Fairmont Mayor Debbie Foster joined Klobuchar to talk about issues facing the community.

Foster said the main concern she has for Fairmont is attracting skilled workers to the area, and the ability to support the workforce through affordable housing and daycare. However, she is encouraged by the City Council’s willingness to take risks and work toward bringing workers to Fairmont.

“The majority of the council I think is willing to say, ‘You know what, I think we need to do something.’ We do need to do something,” Foster said.

A topic of conversation Friday that has been in the national news over the past month is the issue of the 2018 Renewable Fuel Standard. The RFS is a federal program that requires transportation fuel sold in the United States to contain a minimum volume of renewable fuels.

The standard was created to expand the renewable fuels industry in 2005, and the volume standards were laid out through 2022 when the law was expanded in 2007. However, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency can alter the standards in order to protect the economy.

The EPA proposed a reduction in the 2018 Renewable Fuel Standard blending requirements. Following this proposal, a bipartisan group of 38 senators, led by Klobuchar and Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, sent an open letter to EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt to show opposition to the proposed changes and stress the importance of the renewable fuel on the U.S. economy.

Recently, Pruitt announced that EPA will no longer be moving forward on proposals to lower RFS levels.

Klobuchar said the issue of renewable fuel has more to do with geography than party lines, which is why there is bipartisanship on both sides of the issue.

“We’ve really built coalitions along party lines, and that’s good,” she said. “It’s always better to be in that position. And we’ve been able to ward off efforts to basically get rid of ethanol and we don’t like that at all. We would rather be spending money and supporting the workers of the Midwest instead of the oil companies in the Middle East.”

Read the original article: Senator Weighs In On Ethanol

Ethanol Producer Magazine

November 1, 2018

By Erin Voegele

The White House Office of Management and Budget is reviewing the U.S. EPA’s final rule to set 2018 Renewable Fuel Standard renewable volume requirements (RVOs), along with the 2019 RVO for biomass-based diesel. OMB review marks a final step before the final rule is released to the public. Under statute, the EPA is required to issue a final rule establishing 2018 RVOs by Nov. 30.

The EPA first released its proposal to set 2018 RVOs and the 2019 RVO for biomass-based diesel on July 5. The proposal calls for 19.24 billion gallons of total renewable fuel, including 238 million gallons of cellulosic biofuel, 2.1 billion gallons of biomass-based diesel and 4.24 billion gallons of advanced biofuel. The 2.1 billion gallon biomass-based diesel requirement for 2018 was finalized last year. For 2019, the new proposal calls for the biomass-based diesel RVO to be maintained at 2.1 billion gallons.

When compared to the final RVO for 2017, the requirement for total renewable fuel drops slightly from 19.28 billion gallons to the proposed 19.24 billion gallons. The cellulosic RVO has also been lowered, from 311 million gallons in 2017 to a proposed 238 million gallons in 2018, with the advanced biofuel requirement dropping from 4.28 billion gallons in 2017 to a proposed 4.24 billion gallons in 2018. The final RVO for biomass-based diesel in 2017 was set at 2 billion gallons.

A comment period on the proposal opened July 21 and ran through Aug. 31. Approximately 236,370 comments were filed on the proposed rule.

On Sept. 26, the EPA published a notice of data availability (NODA) contemplating reductions in 2018 and 2019 RVOs. The potential reductions primarily targeted biomass-based diesel, but could potentially results in corresponding reductions in RVOs for advanced biofuels and total renewable fuels.

The NODA cites issues related to the cost and supply of biofuels as reasons for the EPA’s action. Specifically, the NODA cites the expiration of the $1 per gallon biodiesel tax credit and a recent preliminary determination by the U.S. Department of Commerce that it would be appropriate to place countervailing duties of 41 percent to 68 percent on imports of biodiesel from Argentina and Indonesia as factors that could impact the cost and supply of advanced biofuels.

The NODA was subject to a 15-day comment period that closed Oct. 19. Approximately 40,017 comments were filed on the proposal.

Several senators, members of congress, governors and groups representing the biofuels industry fought back against the EPA’s proposed action. As a result, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt issued a letter Oct. 20 in which he indicated the EPA expects to set final 2018 RVOs at or above proposed levels. Pruitt also said the EPA would issue a final rule maintaining the current point of obligation under the RFS within 30 days. In addition, Pruitt said the EPA is actively exploring whether it possesses the legal authority to extend the Reid vapor pressure (RVP) waiver to fuel blends containing more than 10 percent ethanol. He also noted the EPA has not and will not take any formal action to propose amending RFS regulations to allow renewable identification numbers (RINs) to be attached to exported volumes of ethanol.

Read the original article: OMB Reviewing Final Rule To Set 2018 RFS RVOs

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