Gevo Inc. announced Aug. 13 that Air Total International SA and Gevo have entered into a partnership agreement to produce and supply sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) for use and distribution in France and other parts of Europe.

With the finalization of this new supply contract, Gevo will initially supply Air Total sustainable aviation fuel from its facility in Silsbee Texas and later from Gevo’s expanded Luverne Minnesota plant which is expected to be constructed over the next several years. 

Air Total specializes in the manufacturing and marketing of jet fuel and aviation gasoline for over 60 years. Air Total supplies the commercial, business and general aviation sectors at more than 300 airports in 72 countries on five continents.

“We are pleased to work with Air Total as they are active for years in the crusade to decarbonize aviation fuel in France and other parts of Europe”, said Timothy J. Cesarek, chief commercial officer of Gevo.  “This agreement with Air Total is a crucial first step as we ramp up supply to the environmentally conscious EU aviation sector”.

Gevo fractionates grain to produce protein and animal feed while using the residual carbohydrate portion of the grain for fermentation to produce the intermediate chemical: isobutanol.  The isobutanol is then chemically transformed using a hydrocarbon processing facility into SAF meeting ASTM D7566 (Standard Specification for Aviation Turbine Fuel Containing Synthesized Hydrocarbons).  The SAF made by this process has very low sulfur, low particulates, and slightly higher energy density than petroleum-based jet fuel. 

For every gallon of SAF produced, Gevo also produces approximately 10 pounds of protein that goes into the food supply chain and can sequester up to 2 pounds of carbon dioxide as carbon into the soil making it one of the only renewable jet fuels to produce both food and fuel while sequestering carbon dioxide and lowering the GHG emissions as compared to traditional fossil-based jet fuel.
A copy of the purchase and sale agreement between Air TOTAL and Gevo has been filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Form 8-K.  To access the Form 8-K, please visit https://www.sec.gov/edgar/searchedgar/companysearch.html.