Gevo to supply sustainable aviation fuel to Air TOTAL 

Gevo, Inc., based in Englewood, Colorado, U.S.A., said it has entered into a partnership agreement with Air TOTAL International SA to produce and supply sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) for use and distribution in France and other parts of Europe.

Gevo will initially supply Air Total sustainable aviation fuel from its facility in Silsbee, Texas, U.S.A., and later from Gevo’s expanded Luverne, Minnesota, U.S.A. plant, which is expected to be constructed over the next several years. 

Air TOTAL specializes in the manufacturing and marketing of jet fuel and aviation gasoline, supplying the commercial, business, and general aviation sectors at more than 300 airports in 72 countries on five continents.                                                                                                                    

“We are pleased to work with Air TOTAL as they join the crusade to decarbonize aviation fuel in France and other parts of Europe,” said Timothy J. Cesarek, the chief commercial officer of Gevo. “This agreement with Air TOTAL is a crucial first step as we ramp up supply to the environmentally-conscious EU aviation sector.”

Gevo fractionates grain to produce protein and animal feed while using the residual carbohydrate portion of the grain for fermentation to produce the intermediate chemical: isobutanol. Isobutanol is then chemically transformed using a hydrocarbon processing facility into SAF, meeting ASTM D7566 (Standard Specification for Aviation Turbine Fuel Containing Synthesized Hydrocarbons). The SAF made by this process has very low sulfur, low particulates, and slightly higher energy density than petroleum-based jet fuel. 

For every gallon of SAF produced, Gevo also produces approximately 10 pounds of protein that goes into the food supply chain and can sequester up to two pounds of carbon dioxide as carbon into the soil, making it one of the only renewable jet fuels to produce both food and fuel while sequestering carbon dioxide and lowering GHG emissions as compared to traditional fossil-based jet fuel.

Gevo is a next-generation “low-carbon” fuel company focused on the development and commercialization of renewable alternatives to petroleum-based products. Low-carbon fuels reduce the carbon intensity, or the level of greenhouse gas emissions, compared to standard fossil-based fuels across their lifecycle. The most common low-carbon fuels are renewable fuels. Gevo is focused on the development and production of mainstream fuels like gasoline and jet fuel using renewable feedstocks that have the potential to lower greenhouse gas emissions at a meaningful scale and enhance agricultural production, including food and other related products. In addition to serving the low-carbon fuel markets, through Gevo’s technology, Gevo can also serve markets for the production of chemical intermediate products for solvents, plastics, and building block chemicals.