GEVO Gevo Inc

Gevo, Inc. (NASDAQ:  GEVO) – Delta’s work to create a sustainable future continues with a long-term offtake agreement under which Delta will purchase 10 million gallons per year of advanced renewable biofuels from Gevo. Sustainable aviation fuels provide significant environmental benefits because the lifecycle carbon footprint can be up to 75 percent less than conventional jet fuel.

Delta’s agreement with Gevo complements the airline’s recent $2 million investment in Northwest Advanced Bio-fuels, LLC for the feasibility study of a facility to produce sustainable aviation fuel and other biofuel products in Washington State. The airline’s investment in sustainable fuel is only one example of Delta’s work to positively impact the environment, maintain its commitment to carbon neutral growth and reduce emissions 50 percent by 2050.

“Long term investments such as our agreement with Gevo are critical to Delta’s goal to lower our carbon footprint while planning for a more sustainable future,” stated Graeme Burnett, Senior Vice President - Fuel Management at Delta Air Lines. “Fuel is an airline’s biggest area of impact and therefore presents our greatest opportunity to drive solutions that care for the planet.”

Powered by inedible, industrial corn products, or no. 2 corn, Gevo’s patented process separates the sugar from the proteins in the corn product. The sugars are then used to make the jet fuel, while the proteins are fed to livestock. After capturing and converting the livestock manure into biogas digestors that can displace fossil-based natural gas, the solids produced are used as fertilizer for the fields, thereby creating a continuous, renewable manufacturing cycle.

“We have such great potential in our business system to break paradigms as to what is possible. We are working to create a business system that works hand-in-hand with agriculture to improve sustainability and lower the carbon emissions of jet fuel while producing protein for food chain use,” said Patrick R. Gruber, Gevo’s Chief Executive Officer. “Not only does our system produce enormous quantities of protein, we are working to get off the grid by installing wind power for electricity and manure digestors to produce biogas. We want our Luverne Facility to embody the ‘circular economy’.”

The sustainable aviation fuel is expected to be produced upon completion of an expansion to Gevo’s existing advanced biofuel production facility in Luverne, Minn. and is expected to be available for use by Delta between 2022-2023.

A copy of the fuel sales agreement between Delta and Gevo has been filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Form 8-K. 

Delta’s Commitment to Sustainability

Since 2005, Delta has reduced its jet fuel consumption, leading to an 11 percent decrease in emissions as Delta works toward its long-term goal of reducing emissions by 50 percent by 2050. Delta is also investing in new, more fuel-efficient aircraft to optimize the use of jet fuel. In July, Delta flew the first of 20 carbon-neutral new aircraft delivery flights from the Airbus final assembly line in Mobile, Ala., utilizing sustainable aviation fuel and carbon offsets in coordination with Airbus and Air BP.

These sustainability efforts have resulted in Delta being awarded the Vision for America Award by Keep America Beautiful in 2017 and the Captain Planet Foundation's Superhero Corporate Award in 2018, as well as being named to the FTSE4Good Index five consecutive years and the Dow Jones Sustainability North America Index nine consecutive years.

About GevoGevo is commercializing the next generation of gasoline, jet fuel and diesel fuel with the potential to achieve zero carbon emissions, addressing the market need of reducing greenhouse gas emissions with sustainable alternatives. Gevo uses low-carbon renewable resource-based carbohydrates as raw materials and is in an advanced state of developing renewable electricity and renewable natural gas for use in production processes, resulting in low-carbon fuels with substantially reduced carbon intensity (the level of greenhouse gas emissions compared to standard petroleum fossil-based fuels across their lifecycle). Gevo’s products perform as well or better than traditional fossil-based fuels in infrastructure and engines, but with substantially reduced greenhouse gas emissions. In addition to addressing the problems of fuels, Gevo’s technology also enables certain plastics, such as polyester, to be made with more sustainable ingredients. Gevo’s ability to penetrate the growing low-carbon fuels market depends on the price of oil and the value of abating carbon emissions that would otherwise increase greenhouse gas emissions. Gevo believes that its proven, patented technology enabling the use of a variety of low-carbon sustainable feedstocks to produce price-competitive low carbon products such as gasoline components, jet fuel, and diesel fuel yields the potential to generate project and corporate returns that justify the build-out of a multi-billion-dollar business. Learn more at www.gevo.com.

Forward-Looking StatementsCertain statements in this press release may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements relate to a variety of matters, including, without limitation, statements related to the fuel sales agreement between Gevo and Delta Air Lines, Gevo’s ability to produce the sustainable aviation fuel contemplated by the fuel sales agreement, Gevo’s ability to finance and construct the expansion to its production facility located in Luverne, MN to produce the sustainable aviation fuel contemplated by the fuel sales agreement, Gevo’s business plans and other statements that are not purely statements of historical fact. These forward-looking statements are made on the basis of the current beliefs, expectations and assumptions of the management of Gevo and are subject to significant risks and uncertainty. Investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements. All such forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and Gevo undertakes no obligation to update or revise these statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Although Gevo believes that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, these statements involve many risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from what may be expressed or implied in these forward-looking statements. For a further discussion of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those expressed in these forward-looking statements, as well as risks relating to the business of Gevo in general, see the risk disclosures in the Annual Report on Form 10-K of Gevo for the year ended December 31, 2018 and in subsequent reports on Forms 10-Q and 8-K and other filings made with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission by Gevo.

Investor and Media ContactShawn M. SeversonIntegra Investor Relations+1 415-226-7747info@integra-ir.com