Praj Industries to collaborate with GEVO USA

Praj Industries has signed a Construction License Agreement (CLA) with Gevo Inc, USA dated April 4, 2019, to commercialise technology for the production of isobutanol using sugary-based feedstocks, such as juice, syrup and molasses. Pursuant to the CLA, Praj will provide Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC) services to third parties using a process design package developed by Praj. This package uses Gevo’s proprietary isobutanol biocatalyst on sugary-based feedstock. Isobutanol derived from said proprietary process is high energy renewable intermediate product that finds application in Aviation and Racing cars.

To that effect, Praj also signed an MoU with Gevo Inc. to commercialise Gevo’s renewable hydrocarbons products. This includes Gevo’s renewable alcohol-to-jet fuel (“ATJ”) and renewable isooctane, derived from Gevo’s renewable isobutanol.

Pramod Chaudhari, Executive Chairman of Praj, said, “The addition of isobutanol technology to Praj’s diverse product portfolio is a step in our endeavor towards smart biorefineries that facilitate sustainable decarbonization. This solution can be offered both as a ‘bolt-on’ to an existing ethanol plant or as a Greenfield plant. We value our partnership with Gevo and believe that this technology will help the aviation industry fulfill their obligation of Green House Gas (GHG) reduction.” He added further that Praj will also pursue development of agri-biomass to isobutanol as reinforcement of circular bio economy.

"Praj is a company that shares our vision of the utilisation of renewable resources and renewable energy to decarbonise transportation fuels," said Patrick R. Gruber, Chief Executive Officer of Gevo. “With Gevo’s technology and Praj’s execution, ethanol can be substituted with isobutanol and drop-in gasoline. Gevo expects to leverage Praj’s Enfinity technology to produce second generation drop-in hydrocarbons utilising Gevo’s existing technology that has already been proven. We expect to scale up quickly and be ready for the Indian market as early as 2020.”