Ethanol is the largest market in the world for biofuel, and the U.S. is the largest market for it, particularly since our transportation sector is so large.
Ethanol is a two-carbon alcohol produced by fermenting corn starch, and it is the most widely used biofuel in the world — most gasoline sold in the United States already contains 10% ethanol as a blending component. Gevo produces approximately 65 million gallons of low-carbon ethanol per year at its Gevo North Dakota facility in Richardton, North Dakota, using locally grown corn, renewable energy, and on-site carbon capture and sequestration to achieve a carbon intensity score dramatically lower than conventional corn ethanol. That low carbon score makes Gevo’s ethanol more valuable in markets like California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard and under the federal Section 45Z Clean Fuel Production Credit, where lower-carbon fuels earn higher credits. Ethanol also serves as the direct feedstock for Gevo’s planned ATJ-30 aviation fuel plant at the same North Dakota site, making today’s ethanol production the foundation for tomorrow’s SAF.
Gevo’s ethanol meets the need for a renewable fuel building block, and we are constantly exploring new and better ways to improve upon it.
One use for ethanol is to use it as an oxygenate blendstock that is blended with petro-based gasoline to meet RFG area requirements. Or it can be blended with our isooctane to make fuel with reduced carbon intensity.
Ethanol Is a Building Block for Advanced Renewable Fuels
Gevo announced in September 2021 that it received a patent for a process that encompasses upgrading ethanol and bio-based alcohols into drop-in, bio-based renewable diesel and SAF products.
The United States Patent and Trademark Office has awarded Gevo U.S. Patent No. 11,078,433 titled “Conversion of Mixtures of C 2 -C 8 Olefins to Jet Fuel and/or Diesel Fuel in High Yield from Bio-Based Alcohols.”
This patented process establishes a new technology and route to hydrocarbons that did not previously exist. This creates an opportunity for Gevo to diversify ethanol production to help meet increasing demand for renewable diesel and jet fuel.
The patent falls in line with our business model to develop technology that can be used to produce drop-in hydrocarbon fuels and produce them at scale. When we apply these fuel pathways with our integrated approach to sustainability across the whole business system, including regenerative agriculture techniques, powering our processes with non-fossil-based renewable energy, and producing food, paying attention to land-use issues, and responsible water use. The result is a new pathway to fuel that could produce energy with added carbon-abatement value over the lifecycle of the product.
