Advanced biofuel developer to buy Minnesota ethanol plant

Gevo, the biobutanol technology developer based in Colorado, looks set to acquire an ethanol production plant in southwest Minnesota to use as a base to commercialize its process.

The company has signed definitive agreements to acquire the Agri-Energy ethanol facility in Luverne, Minnesota.

As soon as the deal is closed, the plant will be retrofitted with mechanical systems to convert from ethanol to isobutanol production, although during the retrofit process the facility will continue to produce ethanol.

Gevo said it is expecting isobutanol production to begun by the first quarter of 2012.

Dr Patrick Gruber, CEO of Gevo, hailed the deal as “another important step” in bringing commercial volumes of isobutanol to market.

He said: “The Luverne plant is a very well run facility with a strong operating team. It is a great place to begin our commercialization effort. We expect the facility will be the first among many and want it to be a model project for the future.”
Isobutanol

Isobutanol is a type of alcohol that can be used to produce a number of materials and chemicals, as well as being a direct replacement for gasoline, or as a building block to produce diesel or jet fuels.

Gevo’s process for producing the advanced biofuel has been designed to fit into existing ethanol production facilities.

The catalyst fermentation technology allows various renewable feedstocks to be used – including corn, wheat, sorghum, barley, sugar cane and cellulosic (non-food) feedstocks – as they become commercially available.

Gevo, which has its headquarters in Englewood, CO, announced last month that it has successfully converted cellulosic biomass material into isobutanol, and has also converted the cellulosic isobutanol into isobutylene and paraffinic kerosene (jet fuel).

Agri-Energy opened its $20.5 million ethanol plant back in 1998 to produce a higher-value product from grains supplied by around 200 local farms. It has capacity to produce around 21 million gallons of corn-based ethanol each year.

Agri-Energy founding member and Co-op Coordinator David Kolsrud said of the Gevo deal: “We see biobutanol as the next logical step in the industry’s development. We believe isobutanol can be sold into many markets and has product attributes that make it a compelling product for current ethanol producers.”

source: brighterenergy.org