Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) pioneer Gevo has closed on the purchase of property in South Dakota that will become Net-Zero 1, its first commercial fuel production facility. The 245-acre site near Lake Preston, which was chosen specifically for factors pertaining to SAF production, was first optioned by the Colorado-based company in 2020.
Gevo expects to break ground on construction in September along with a wind energy project that will provide electricity to the facility. Initial production of SAF is anticipated by 2025 and, once at peak operation, the location is expected to deliver 55 million gallons per year.
“After just over 18 months of due diligence at the site, we are excited to commit and move forward,” said Gevo CEO Patrick Gruber. “We are working to bring sustainable agriculture into the solution to capture carbon and catalyze the build-out of wind, renewable hydrogen, and biogas, combined with new paradigms for managing energy.”
Gruber added that the process will enable the transformation of renewable energy and carbon in the form of liquids to anywhere it is needed and can be done on a net-zero greenhouse gas lifecycle basis when all of the parts of the business system are accounted for.