Patrick Gruber, Chief Executive Officer, Gevo.
ENGLEWOOD, US: Gevo Inc has begun supplying the US Coast Guard R&D Centre with initial quantities of finished 16.1 per cent renewable isobutanol-blended gasoline for engine testing. The US Coast Guard R&D Centre is using the Gevo-blended fuel as part of a 12-month, long-term operational study on marine engines that began during June.
The testing is being performed under a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) between the US Coast Guard, Honda, and Mercury and will focus on two of the Coast Guard’s platform boats. The US Coast Guard completed a 3 month round of testing in Florida earlier this year under the CRADA with Honda engines running on fuel supplied by Gevo which contained 16.1 per cent renewable isobutanol. Engines were run at full throttle for an 8 hour day for several months and then broken down and inspected.
“Gevo’s proprietary isobutanol-blended gasoline is truly a drop-in fuel, deliberately designed to be fully compliant with marine fuel specifications, including fit-for-purpose properties. Isobutanol’s low-water solvency and non-corrosive characteristics will offer consumers a high-performance, renewable biofuel ideally suited for a wide variety of marine engine applications,” said Patrick Gruber, Chief Executive Officer, Gevo.
“This testing will validate isobutanol-blended gasoline as a clean-burning, homegrown, drop-in fuel for marine applications. As we accelerate our full-scale commercial production efforts at the world’s first renewable isobutanol plant in Luverne, US, we are extremely excited to be working with a partner like the US Coast Guard to evaluate and develop a product line of high-performance, isobutanol-based fuel blends for the marine engine market,” added Gruber.
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