Gevo Inc. in early August announced its biorefinery in Luverne, Minnesota, is resuming operations to produce fuel-grade, renewable isobutanol. The company has also announced a contract to sell renewable national gas (RNG) to bp.

Gevo on Aug. 4 announced operations have re-commenced at the Luverne biorefinery. Agri-Energy LLC, Gevo’s wholly owned subsidiary that owns the plant, has hired multiple former employees and is in the process of hiring an additional 11 employees. The company said it aims to have 30 full-time employees working at the plant.

Most of the renewable isobutanol produced at the Luverne facility will be used as feedstock by Gevo to produce sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and renewable premium gasoline at its facility in Silsbee, Texas. The resulting fuel will be used to fulfill existing sales contracts. Gevo said it also expects to use some of the renewable isobutanol produced at Luverne to develop certain specialty markets.

The company said operations at the Luverne facility will also allow it to test and evaluate certain potential unit operations that may be incorporated into its proposed Net-Zero 1 production facility. That facility, under development in Lake Preston, South Dakota, is expected to be operational in 2024.

Less than a week later, on Aug. 9, Gevo announced that Gevo NW Iowa RNG LLC, its wholly owned dairy RNG project, has signed binding definitive agreements with BP Canada Energy Marketing Corp. and BP Products North America Inc. for the sale of RNG.

The NW Iowa RNG project is currently under construction and is scheduled to be operational early next year. Once complete, the project is expected to produce approximately 355,000 MMBtu of RNG annually. The resulting fuel is expected to be sold into the California market under dispensing agreements bp has in place with Clean Energy Fuels Corp.