Gevo Shares Double After Airline Agrees to Purchase Biofuel

(Bloomberg) — Gevo Inc., a U.S. biofuel producer backed by

the French oil company Total SA, more than doubled after Alaska

Air Group Inc. agreed to buy its renewable jet fuel.

Gevo rose 123 percent to $5.46 at the close in New York,

the most since the company’s 2011 public offering.

The airline holding company’s Alaska Airlines is planning a

demonstration flight this year using Gevo’s fuel, the Englewood,

Colorado-based company said in a statement Thursday.

The deal is part of Alaska Air’s efforts to use sustainably

produced biofuel. The carrier previously has flown aircraft

using fuel derived from used cooking oil.

“If we’re at full scale, we’d have the lowest-cost,

renewable-resource-based jet fuel around,” Gevo Chief Executive

Officer Pat Gruber said Thursday in a telephone interview.

“It’s just likes standard-performance kerosene, but our stuff

generally burns way cleaner than petrochemical-based jet fuel.”

Gevo converts corn and plant waste into isobutanol, which

is processed into jet fuel that’s a drop-in substitute for

petroleum-based fuel.

To contact the reporter on this story:

Justin Doom in New York at

jdoom1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story:

Reed Landberg at

landberg@bloomberg.net

Will Wade, Jim Efstathiou Jr.

About BloombergNEF

BloombergNEF (BNEF) is a strategic research provider covering global commodity markets and the disruptive technologies driving the transition to a low-carbon economy. Our expert coverage assesses pathways for the power, transport, industry, buildings and agriculture sectors to adapt to the energy transition. We help commodity trading, corporate strategy, finance and policy professionals navigate change and generate opportunities.
 
Sign up for our free monthly newsletter →

Want to learn how we help our clients put it all together? Contact us