Gevo starts biobased isobutanol plant in Luverne

Dr Patrick Gruber, CEO, Gevo.

ENGLEWOOD, US: Gevo has begun startup of the world’s first commercial biobased isobutanol production plant located in Luverne, US. Gevo retrofitted the Luverne plant to incorporate its proprietary yeast and Gevo Integrated Fermentation Technology (GIFT). Through initial operation of the Luverne plant, Gevo expects to advance its learning of large-scale production of renewable isobutanol at the site maintaining a goal of producing isobutanol at a run rate of approximately one million gallons per month by year end 2012.

“The startup of our Luverne plant represents a major milestone for the industry and validation of our commitment to commercially produce biobased isobutanol in the first half of 2012. This ramp up in production is actually fast for a new technology. It would be much longer and present more execution risk if this were a greenfield plant. This is only the beginning for Gevo as we work toward our first shipment to Sasol and increasing production over the coming months,” said Dr Patrick Gruber, CEO, Gevo.

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