Gevo to Supply Jet Fuel to Virgin Australia at Brisbane Airport in Australia
October 03 2017 - 8:00AM
Gevo, Inc. (NASDAQ:GEVO), announced today that it expects to
supply its renewable alcohol-to-jet fuel (ATJ) to the Virgin
Australia Group, a leading Australian airline group. The
Virgin Australia Group will be responsible for coordinating the
purchase, supply and blending of the ATJ into the fuel supply
system at Brisbane Airport in Queensland, Australia. Gevo’s ATJ is
expected to be blended with traditional jet fuel and supplied on
flights departing Brisbane Airport, including Virgin Australia
flights. It is currently contemplated that Gevo will ship the
first gallons of ATJ to the Virgin Australia Group in October 2017.
Gevo will supply the ATJ from its hydrocarbon plant based in
Silsbee, Texas. The ATJ is derived from isobutanol produced at its
commercial isobutanol plant located in Luverne, Minnesota (the
“Luverne Facility”).
Gevo is looking to expand its isobutanol production capabilities
at the Luverne Facility to enable larger production volumes of its
ATJ in the future. Gevo has a goal in 2017 of obtaining binding
supply contracts for a combination of isobutanol and hydrocarbon
products (ATJ and isooctane) equal to at least 50% of the capacity
of the anticipated expanded Luverne Facility. These supply
contracts are expected to form the basis on which Gevo would set
the specific configuration of the Luverne Facility in terms of end
product mix between isobutanol, ATJ and isooctane.
The Queensland government is supporting the arrangement as a
first step in the development of a renewable jet fuel production
industry in the state. Queensland is looking to leverage
carbohydrate-based feedstocks, abundant to its local agricultural
sector, to support the build-out of renewable jet fuel production
plants in the future. Gevo is well positioned to play a role in
this growth, as the company believes its ATJ is cost advantaged in
comparison to other renewable jet alternatives derived from
carbohydrate-based feedstocks.
Virgin Australia Group Chief Executive Officer John Borghetti
said: “This initiative builds on Virgin Australia’s commitment to
be a leader in the commercialization of the sustainable aviation
fuel industry in Australia. The project announced today is critical
to testing the fuel supply chain infrastructure in Australia to
ensure that Virgin Australia and Brisbane Airport are ready for the
commercial supply of these exciting fuels.”
“Biojet is fast becoming a staple of the aviation industry, and
Brisbane is joining major airports such as Los Angeles and Oslo in
embracing a sustainable aviation future. Although the aviation
biojet fuel sector is quite new, there has been more than a decade
of work behind it and hundreds of thousands of hours of fuel
testing to prove the fuels are compatible with fossil based fuels.
The first aviation biojet fuels were approved for commercial
flights in 2011,” said Queensland Premier Annastacia
Palaszczuk.
“We are excited to work in partnership with Virgin Australia,
the Queensland government and the Brisbane Airport Corporation to
enable flights out of the Brisbane Airport using our ATJ. We
believe Queensland offers huge potential for low-cost,
biomass-based feedstocks to produce biofuels. When I visited
Queensland last year for the Biofutures Industry Forum, I
discovered the depth and diversity of its agriculture sector. It
really opened our eyes to Queensland's potential for sustainable
aviation fuels based on Gevo’s ATJ technology,” added Dr. Patrick
Gruber, Gevo’s Chief Executive Officer.
About GevoGevo 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.
Forward-Looking StatementsCertain 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, which include statements
relating to the commercial flights to be flown by Virgin Australia,
Gevo’s supply of ATJ, Gevo’s plans and goals, including its plans
to expand the Luverne Facility, the Queensland government’s plans
to develop the renewable jet fuel production industry and the
properties of Gevo’s ATJ, 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 Gevo undertakes no obligation to update
or revise these statements, whether as a result of new information,
future events or otherwise. Although Gevo 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, 2016,
and in subsequent reports on Forms 10-Q and 8-K and other filings
made with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission by Gevo.
Media ContactDavid RodewaldThe David James
Agency, LLC+1 805-494-9508gevo@davidjamesagency.com
Investor ContactShawn M. SeversonEnergyTech
Investor, LLC+1
415-233-7094gevo@energytechinvestor.com @ShawnEnergyTechwww.energytechinvestor.com
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