Total invests in Gevo

U.S.-based biofuel firm Gevo Inc. announced that French company Total S.A. has invested an undisclosed amount in the company. With the investment, Gevo said it plans to retrofit its existing ethanol plants to produce isobutanol. Gevo, which is backed by venture capitalists Richard Branson of Virgin Green Fund and Sun Microsystems co-founder Vinod Khosla, said that isobutanol, which can be turned into hydrocarbon products such as gasoline, diesel fuel and jet fuel, are identical to petroleum-based products, but are produced in a cost-effective and sustainable basis from renewable resources. Gevo is partnering with ethanol plant designer ICM Inc. to build a one million gallon per year commercial facility at ICM’s biofuels research center in St. Joseph, Missouri, U.S.A. Butanol producers to date have used Clostridium acetobutylicum bacteria to munch on a variety of sugary feedstocks to produce acetone, butanol and ethanol. By substituting an E. coli derivative developed by scientists at the University of California in Los Angeles, Gevo is able to produce only isobutanol, thus maximizing feedstock yield. (April 28, 2009)