The award is a portion of a $40m grant presented to the Northwest Advanced Renewables Alliance (NARA), a consortium led by Washington State University (WSU).
The WSU-led grant aims to address the urgent national need for a domestic biofuel alternative for US commercial and military air fleets.
The USDA award enables Gevo to convert woody biomass to cellulosic feedstock to create petroleum replacements such as isobutanol, for the NARA project.
The NARA project envisions developing a new, viable, aviation fuel industry using wood and wood waste in the Pacific Northwest.
The project also will focus on increasing the profitability of wood-based fuels through development of high-value, biobased co-products to replace petrochemicals that are used in products such as plastics.
Gevo CEO Patrick Gruber said woody biomass has the potential to be a cost-effective and sustainable option for biorefineries.
"This project should help accelerate the commercial deployment of cellulosic biorefineries, grow the economy in rural America and contribute to home grown energy independence," Gruber said.
Gevo is a renewable chemicals and advanced biofuels company.
