ENGLEWOOD, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--In side by side performance, durability and emissions testing of small engines, gasoline blended with isobutanol performed better than blends using ethanol. Gevo, Inc. (NASDAQ: GEVO), a renewable chemicals and advanced biofuels company, provided the isobutanol to the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute (OPEI) and Briggs & Stratton (B&S), who tested both fuel blends in B&S small engines. The results demonstrated that unlike ethanol, blends incorporating isobutanol do not cause any irregular or unstable engine or performance issues. The outcome suggests that isobutanol blends at 12.5% could ease the pressure on moving to higher ethanol blends to meet biofuel mandates with no impact on small engines. Isobutanol is a drop-in fuel that requires no flex fuel engines, special blender pumps or pipelines.
"Briggs & Stratton is encouraged by the results of the isobutanol testing on our engines,” said Todd Teske, Chairman, President & CEO of Briggs & Stratton Corporation. "We are very interested in alternative fuels that do not cause damage to the substantial number of engines in use today while lessening the country's dependency on foreign oil."
“The OPEI test results provide further evidence that isobutanol is a superior gasoline blend stock for engines of all kinds,” said Patrick Gruber, Ph.D., CEO of Gevo. “In addition to the issue of engine compatibility, our technology addresses other limitations of ethanol – infrastructure compatibility, evaporative emissions and the blend wall – to the benefits of all consumers. Isobutanol eliminates barriers across the fuels value chain and provides a very significant opportunity for growth in biofuel use for small engines and for automobiles.”
“These results show us that isobutanol could be a biofuel alternative that can be introduced into the existing supply chain without the potential for disruption and harm to our outdoor power equipment engines,” said Kris Kiser, President and CEO of OPEI. “In the economic interest of our members and the safety interest of consumers, we need to be open to a biofuel that can perform reliably in the millions of products on the market -- lawnmowers, chainsaws, motorcycles, snowmobiles, ATVs and UTVs, boats and older cars.”
Kris Kiser announced the results today at the industry’s largest trade show, GIE + EXPO. After testing three different B&S engine models on isobutanol, the following test results were reported:
- No engine or performance issues were found while running on an Isobutanol blend.
- Horsepower and torque levels remained the same while running on Isobutanol.
- Equivalent or better performance than E10 at temperatures ranging from 40°F to 120°F.
- No significant change in emissions (HC+NOx) levels.
- Isobutanol does not absorb water like ethanol. This will lead to fewer problems in the seasonal use conditions and long storage periods that are common with small engine applications.
About Gevo
Gevo is converting existing ethanol plants into biorefineries to make renewable building block products for the chemical and fuel industries. The Company plans to convert renewable raw materials into isobutanol and renewable hydrocarbons that can be directly integrated on a “drop in” basis into existing chemical and fuel products to deliver environmental and economic benefits. Gevo is committed to a sustainable biobased economy that meets society’s needs for plentiful food and clean air and water. For more information, please visit www.gevo.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this press release may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements relate to a variety of matters, including but not limited to the cost, timing and anticipated completion of the retrofit, the expected commencement of commercial isobutanol production and other statements that are not purely statements of historical fact. These forward-looking statements are made on the basis of the current beliefs, expectations and assumptions of the management of Gevo and are subject to significant risks and uncertainty. Investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements. All such forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and the company undertakes no obligation to update or revise these statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Although the company believes that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, these statements involve many risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from what may be expressed or implied in these forward-looking statements. For a further discussion of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those expressed in these forward-looking statements, as well as risks relating to the business of Gevo in general, see the risk disclosures in the Annual Report on Form 10-K of Gevo for the year ended December 31, 2010, and in subsequent reports on Forms 10-Q and 8-K and other filings made with the Securities and Exchange Commission by Gevo.