Gevo Announces Successful Startup of World’s First Commercial Biobased Isobutanol Plant
May 24 2012 - 6:00AM
Business Wire
Gevo, Inc. (NASDAQ: GEVO), a leading renewable chemicals and
next-generation biofuels company, announced today it has begun
startup of the world’s first commercial biobased isobutanol
production plant located in Luverne, Minn.
“At 1 p.m. MDT yesterday we made history by initiating
production of biobased isobutanol at commercial scale,” said Dr.
Patrick Gruber, CEO of Gevo. “One year ago, we broke ground with a
startup goal of less than 12 months and we’ve succeeded. It’s an
extremely proud moment for Gevo and a tribute to the drive and
ambition of our scientists, chemical engineers and production
team.”
“The startup of our Luverne plant represents a major milestone
for the industry and validation of our commitment to commercially
produce biobased isobutanol in the first half of 2012,” said
Gruber. “The next milestone will be to successfully ship product to
our customers.”
Gevo retrofitted the Luverne plant to incorporate its
proprietary yeast and Gevo Integrated Fermentation Technology®
(GIFT®) system to produce biobased isobutanol. Through initial
operation of the Luverne plant, Gevo expects to advance its
learning of large-scale production of renewable isobutanol at the
site maintaining a goal of producing isobutanol at a run rate of
approximately 1 million gallons per month by yearend 2012. Per its
previous guidance, Gevo expects to reach full-capacity run rates by
yearend 2013. “This ramp up in production is actually fast for a
new technology,” said Gruber. “It would be much longer and present
more execution risk if this were a greenfield plant. I like this
retrofit approach.”
“This is only the beginning for Gevo as we work toward our first
shipment to Sasol and increasing production over the coming
months,” added Gruber. “As with all plant startups we will face
challenges. However, we have an outstanding team, many of whom have
been through similar startups before, to address and meet these
challenges. We look forward to growing into a very large
business.”
About Gevo
Gevo is converting existing ethanol plants into biorefineries to
make renewable building block products for the chemical and fuel
industries. The Company plans to convert renewable raw materials
into isobutanol and renewable hydrocarbons that can be directly
integrated on a “drop in” basis into existing chemical and fuel
products to deliver environmental and economic benefits. Gevo is
committed to a sustainable biobased economy that meets society’s
needs for plentiful food and clean air and water. For more
information, visit www.gevo.com
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this press release may constitute
"forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking
statements include statements that are not purely statements of
historical fact, and can sometimes be identified by our use of
terms such as “intend,” “expect,” “plan,” “estimate,” “future,”
“strive” and similar words. These forward-looking statements are
made on the basis of the current beliefs, expectations and
assumptions of the management of Gevo and are subject to
significant risks and uncertainty. Investors are cautioned not to
place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements. All
such forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are
made, and the company undertakes no obligation to update or revise
these statements, whether as a result of new information, future
events or otherwise. Although the company believes that the
expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are
reasonable, these statements involve many risks and uncertainties
that may cause actual results to differ materially from what may be
expressed or implied in these forward-looking statements. For a
further discussion of risks and uncertainties that could cause
actual results to differ from those expressed in these
forward-looking statements, as well as risks relating to the
business of Gevo in general, see the risk disclosures in the Annual
Report on Form 10-K of Gevo for the year ended December 31, 2011,
as amended, and in subsequent reports on Forms 10-Q and 8-K and
other filings made with the SEC by Gevo.
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