Gevo, Inc. has begun supplying the U.S. Coast Guard R&D Center with initial quantities of finished 16.1% renewable isobutanol-blended gasoline for engine testing.
“Gevo’s proprietary isobutanol-blended gasoline is truly a drop-in fuel, deliberately designed to be fully compliant with marine fuel specifications, including fit-for-purpose properties,” Patrick Gruber, Gevo’s chief executive officer said in a press release. “Isobutanol’s low-water solvency and non-corrosive characteristics will offer consumers a high-performance, renewable biofuel ideally suited for a wide variety of marine engine applications,” Gruber said.
The U.S. Coast Guard R&D Center is using the fuel as part of a 12-month, long-term operational study on marine engines that began during June. The testing is being performed under a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) between the U.S. Coast Guard, Honda, and Mercury and will focus on two of the Coast Guard’s platform boats – a 38-foot special purpose training boat and a 25-foot response boat.
The Coast Guard completed a three-month round of testing in Florida earlier this year under the CRADA with Honda engines running on fuel supplied by Gevo which contained 16.1% renewable isobutanol. Engines were run at full throttle for an eight-hour day for several months and then broken down and inspected.
Mike Coleman, Project Manager at the USCG R&D Center stated: “We are pleased so far with our testing of isobutanol as a potential alternative to ethanol as a blend stock in gasoline for marine applications.” Isobutanol is a biofuel that, compared to ethanol, has higher energy density, lower RVP, and does not present phase separation issues seen with ethanol. “All testing so far has been positive, and when the Yorktown tests are completed next year, we expect to have the information available to allow a decision on whether 16.1% Isobutanol fuel blends will be certified for use in the Coast Guard gasoline engine fleet.”
“This testing will validate isobutanol-blended gasoline as a clean-burning, homegrown, drop-in fuel for marine applications,” Gruber added. “As we accelerate our full-scale commercial production efforts at the world’s first renewable isobutanol plant in Luverne, Minn., we are extremely excited to be working with a partner like the U.S. Coast Guard to evaluate and develop a product line of high-performance, isobutanol-based fuel blends for the marine engine market.”
Testing will take place at the U.S. Coast Guard Training Center in Yorktown, Va.
Gevo is a renewable chemicals and biofuels company based in Englewood, Colo. Gevo converts existing ethanol plants into bio-refineries to make isobutanol, a chemical that can be directly integrated into existing chemical and fuel products to deliver environmental and economic benefits. Gevo has executed initial commercial-scale production runs at its isobutanol facility in Luverne, Minn., constructed in conjunction with ICM, a provider of proprietary ethanol process technology.
