The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has awarded $5 million grant to Gevo to develop a biojet fuel from woody biomass. The fund is a part of $40 million grant offered to the Northwest Advanced Renewables Alliance (NARA).
NARA is a wide consortium, which includes researchers from universities, private industry and government laboratories. The consortium is led by the Washington State University (WSU). The NARA program aims to develop a new aviation fuel industry in the Pacific Northwest, nearly half of the region being covered with forests. In addition, the project will focus on enhancing the profitability of cellulosic fuels by developing advanced biobased co-products. Members of the NARA consortium include Gevo, the University of Minnesota, Pennsylvania State University, Oregon State University, Catchlight Energy and Weyerhaeuser.
The United States Department of Defense and aviation industry look for ideal substitutes for the petroleum-based jet fuel. Gevo judges that woody biomass can be utilized to produce an alternative for petrochemicals such as isobutanol. The company plans to use a part of the grant to enhance its cellulosic yeast and fermentation process. Gevo has progressed towards testing of isobutanol-based jet fuel in airline engines. The company anticipates to receiving complete fuel certification from the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) for its cellulosic jet fuel by 2013. Recently, Gevo collaborated with South Hampton Resources to build a demonstration plant to produce biojet fuel and other hydrocarbon materials from renewable isobutanol.
Source: http://www.gevo.com/