Gevo signs licensing and joint development agreements with Praj

Gevo has entered into a license agreement and joint development agreement with Praj Industries to enable the licensing of its isobutanol technology to processors of non-corn based sugars, including the majority of Praj's global customer base of ethanol plant owners.

As part of the agreements, Praj will invest in the development and optimisation of Gevo's isobutanol technology for use with non-corn feedstocks including sugarcane, sugar beets, cassasa, rice, sorghum, wheat and certain cellulosic sugars.

The development work is anticipated to lead to process design packages that could accelerate the licensing of Gevo's technology to processors of these, including Praj's customer base.

Praj and Gevo may also work together to commercialise Gevo's technology for making renewable jet fuel from isobutanol in India. As previously announced, the two companies expect to license up to 250 mgy of biobutanol capacity over the next 10 years under this partnership.

'We are pleased to partner with Gevo in the commercialisation of their isobutanol technology. We believe that the potential for isobutanol is significant and that it could provide our customers a path to meaningfully improve their profits,' says Praj's executive chairman Pramod Chaudhari. 'We have been working diligently with Gevo for the better part of 2015 and are glad to finally sign binding agreements with them.'

In similar news, Gevo is collaborating with marine fuel additives company ValvTect to bring renewable isobutanol fuel blends to ValvTect's marinas.

The announcement comes after a series of tests were run using clear (ethanol-free) petrol that was combined with 16% isobutanol and ValvTect's marine fuel additive. The results proved the compatibility of the combination.