ADM, a global leader in nutrition and agricultural origination and processing, and Gevo, Inc., a pioneer in transforming renewable energy into low carbon, energy-dense liquid hydrocarbons, have announced they have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to support the production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and other low carbon-footprint hydrocarbon fuels.
Under the agreement, production of both ethanol and isobutanol would be transformed into renewable low carbon-footprint hydrocarbons, including SAF, using Gevo’s processing technology and capabilities.
About 900 million gallons of ethanol produced at ADM’s dry mills in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and Columbus, Nebraska, as well as its Decatur, Illinois, complex, is expected to be processed utilizing this technology, resulting in approximately 500 million gallons of SAF and other renewable hydrocarbons. The isobutanol is expected to be produced at a proposed new facility in Decatur that would employ ADM’s carbon capture and sequestration capabilities.
“The potential conversion of 900 million gallons of ethanol – more than half of our production capacity – to serve growing demand for sustainable aviation fuel would represent a major step in the continued evolution of our Carbohydrate Solutions business to focus increasingly on new, high-growth opportunities,” ADM Chairman and CEO Juan Luciano said in a news release. “Carbohydrate Solutions is unlocking new value and meeting customer needs through the growth of our BioSolutions platform, with agreements like our LG Chem MoU; sustainable solutions supported by our carbon capture capabilities, like our net-zero carbon milling footprint in the U.S.; and the completion of our dry mill review, with the sale of our Peoria facility and this exciting collaboration with Gevo. Equally important, we’re continuing to live our purpose, with our entry into SAF representing another step in our strategic efforts to advance decarbonization and use our integrated value chain to deliver more sustainable, environmentally friendly products and services.”
“Our potential customer contract pipeline has grown to over 1 billion gallons,” added Gevo CEO Patrick Gruber, Ph.D. “By working with ADM, who already has committed to reducing their carbon footprint, we have the opportunity to accelerate scale. The technology to convert low carbon ethanol and isobutanol into SAF by Gevo is well developed and ready for world scale-commercialization. We look forward to working with ADM in the pursuit of Net-Zero fuels.”
Demand for SAF is expected to increase as major U.S. airlines, airports, shippers and the U.S. government have agreed to work together to advance the use of cleaner sustainable fuels. The U.S. and the EU have set goals that together would support almost 4 billion gallons of annual SAF production in 2030, and more than 45 billion by 2050.
The two companies expect to begin production of SAF in the 2025-2026 timeframe.
