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CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, US — ADM and Gevo, Inc. will work together to support the production of sustainable aviation fuel and other low carbon-footprint hydrocarbon fuels.

As part of the memorandum of understanding, ethanol and isobutanol would be transformed into renewable low carbon-footprint hydrocarbons, including SAF, using Gevo’s processing technology and capabilities.

About 900 million gallons of ethanol produced at ADM’s dry mills in Columbus, Nebraska, US; Cedar Rapids, Iowa, US; and Decatur, Illinois, US, is expected to be processed with this technology. That would result in production of 500 million gallons of SAF and other renewable hydrocarbons.

The isobutanol would be produced at a proposed new facility in Decatur that would use ADM’s carbon capture and sequestration capabilities.

ADM and Gevo will work together on full commercialization plans and definitive agreements so that SAF production can begin in 2025-26.

“The potential conversion of 900 million gallons of ethanol — more than half of our production capacity — to serve growing demand for sustainable aviation fuel would represent a major step in the continued evolution of our Carbohydrate Solutions business to focus increasingly on new, high-growth opportunities,” said Juan Luciano, chairman and chief executive officer of ADM. “Carbohydrate Solutions is unlocking new value and meeting customer needs through the growth of our BioSolutions platform, with agreements like our LG Chem MoU; sustainable solutions supported by our carbon capture capabilities, like our net-zero carbon milling footprint in the US; and the completion of our dry mill review, with the sale of our Peoria facility and this exciting collaboration with Gevo.

“Equally important, we’re continuing to live our purpose, with our entry into SAF representing another step in our strategic efforts to advance decarbonization and use our integrated value chain to deliver more sustainable, environmentally friendly products and services.”

Gevo, a producer of energy-dense liquid hydrocarbons and renewable chemicals with net-zero greenhouse-gas emissions, said its potential contract pipeline has grown to more than 1 billion gallons.

“By working with ADM, who already has committed to reducing their carbon footprint, we have the opportunity to accelerate scale,” said Patrick Gruber, CEO of Gevo. “The technology to convert low carbon ethanol and isobutanol into SAF by Gevo is well developed and ready for world scale-commercialization. We look forward to working with ADM in the pursuit of net-zero fuels.”

Demand for SAF is expected to increase as major US airlines, airports, shippers and the US government have agreed to work together to advance the use of cleaner sustainable fuels. The United States and the EU have set goals that together would support almost 4 billion gallons of annual SAF production in 2030, and more than 45 billion by 2050.

Source: World Grain