Oil major Total invests in biobutanol pioneer Gevo

In Colorado, oil major Total invested an undisclosed amount in a series D investment round in Gevo, the advanced biofuel company focused on development of butanol as an alternative fuel as well as chemical intermediates including polyacrylates and PETE.

Total is active in 130 countries, with 96,000 employees engaged in exploration and production of oil and natural gas, refining and marketing, gas & power and trading, and joins Shell, BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips and Marathon among oil majors that have made investments in advanced biofuels.   DuPont and BP have a joint venture in biobutanol.

Gevo has announced plans to bring a 1 Mgy facility online in summer 2009, and is scheduled to deploy its first commercial-scale plant in 2011. In addition to producing biobutanol as a gasoline blendstock, Gevo is developing commercial technology for a pathway to  green diesel and renewable jet fuel. The company counts Khosla Ventures, Virgin Green Fund, Burrill & Company, and Malaysian Life Sciences Capital Fund among its investors.

Gevo was ranked #27 in the “50 Hottest Companies in Bioenergy” for 2008-09 by Biofuels Digest, trailing only Cobalt Biofuels (#17) among biobutanol producers.

Free Subscription to the Daily Biofuels Digest e-newsletter

Related Stories

Biobutanol surges: Gevo announces retrofit of first-gen ethanol plant for advanced fuels

In Missouri, biobutanol made another significant advance in its path towards biofuels viability with the startup of a 1 Mgy pilot plant in St. Joseph. The town that served as the traditional jumping o...

Gevo: 50 Hottest Companies in Bioenergy candidate profile

Gevo Based in: Colorado 2008-09 ranking: #27 Business: Fermentation of all sugars including mixed sugars from cellulosics to biobutanol. Gevo will produce biobutanol that can be blended directly...

Gevo CEO receives inaugural George Washington Carver Award from BIO

In Colorado, Dr. Patrick Gruber, CEO of Gevo, received the inaugural George Washington Carver award from BIO, the world’s largest biotech organization. The award recognizes significant contribu...

BP, DuPont butanol JV, Butamax, heads for commercialization; BP = “butanol play”? How will Gevo, Cobalt counter?

In Delaware, BP and Dupont announced the commencement of commercialization of their butanol venture, which will be named Butamax Advanced Biofuels. According to the joint venture partners, Butamax Adv...

Biobutanol promising but technology not yet developed, says NREL engineer

In Colorado, a research engineer at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden told BusinessWeek that biobutanol holds significant promise as an alternative energy, but that the technology is ...

Cobalt Biofuels raises $25 million in series C financing for biobutanol commercialization

In California, pioneer biobutanol venture Cobalt Biofuels said that it has completed a $25 million third round of funding. Participants in the round included Pinnacle Ventures, Vantage Point Venture P...