Gevo produced over 1,000 gallons of the cellulosic ATJ. Alaska Airlines is expected to fly the first commercial flight using this cellulosic jet fuel in the next few months. This follows on the back of the two commercial flights that were flown by Alaska Airlines on Gevo’s ATJ in June of this year. The ATJ for the June flights was derived from isobutanol produced at Gevo’s Luverne, Minnesota, production facility using sustainable corn as the sugar feedstock.
The cellulosic ATJ was produced in conjunction with the Northwest Advanced Renewables Alliance (NARA). NARA supplied the sugars that were derived from forest residuals in the Pacific Northwest. Gevo produced the cellulosic renewable isobutanol at its demonstration facility in St. Joseph, Missouri, that it jointly operates with ICM Inc., Colwich, Kansas. The cellulosic renewable isobutanol was then transported to Gevo’s biorefinery facility in Silsbee, Texas, that Gevo operates with South Hampton Resources, Silsbee, Texas, where the cellulosic renewable isobutanol was converted into ATJ.
“Gevo’s production of this cellulosic ATJ removes all doubt that cellulosic sugars can be successfully converted into isobutanol using Gevo’s technology. Gevo’s ATJ technology then reliably converts isobutanol into renewable jet fuel, regardless of the sugar source. I’m looking forward to seeing this fuel power an Alaska Airlines flight in the near future. I wish to congratulate our team at Gevo, all the other NARA members, and thank the U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Institute of Food and Agriculture, who funded the work,” said Patrick Gruber, Gevo’s CEO.
