Gevo and Axens North America have announced that they have entered into an agreement that establishes a strategic alliance aimed at accelerating the commercialization of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) projects in the US.
Gevo anticipates developing, owning, and operating plants to produce SAF utilizing its proficiency in renewable alcohol production and technologies.
Jean Sentenac, CEO of Axens, said: "This agreement not only strengthens Axens' existing relationship with Gevo that currently includes technology development and deployment in the isobutanol derived fuels, but reiterates Axens' commitment to Gevo's growth potential while recognizing Axens' innovative, commercially-proven, and differentiated technology bundle approach.
"Gevo's approach makes it possible to decarbonize the ethanol supply chain and thus utilize technologies originally developed and well-proven for fossil-hydrocarbon production to produce renewable, drop-in fuels. Finally, we are convinced that Gevo's breakthrough approach to scientifically tracking and accounting for carbon, emissions, and sustainability across the whole of the business system is a true differentiator that will enable the growth of SAF production via carbohydrate-derived alcohols."
Dr Patrick Gruber, CEO of Gevo, said: "Our customers want SAF and other low-carbon hydrocarbons sooner, rather than later. The collaboration between Gevo and Axens is expected to allow Gevo to rapidly partner with existing ethanol producers to deploy proven technologies at commercial scales consistent with the airline industry's sustainability goals.
"We see that there is great potential to convert ethanol into SAF and other hydrocarbons. Additionally, there is synergy with Gevo proprietary isobutanol production technology that is expected to result in unique product blending synergies for producing low-carbon gasoline, SAF, and renewable diesel. We know from our work on the Net-Zero business model that it is possible to drive the fossil-based GHG and related emissions footprint very low or even negative while producing drop-in hydrocarbon fuels like SAF and we think the model can apply to ETJ too."