DOE awards Vertimass $1.4 million to optimize aviation jet fuel

In California, Vertimass LLC announced that Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) within the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy will receive a cost-shared award of up to $1.4 million to optimize jet fuel production. The cooperative agreement would aid Vertimass in its mission to commercialize “green” catalyst technology that converts ethanol into a valuable renewable jet fuel compatible with the current jet fuel infrastructure.

The technology is expected to allow expansion of the liquid biofuels market beyond current constraints. Existing U.S. ethanol production plants currently have the capacity to produce approximately 16 billion gallons per year, a level that saturates current use as 10 percent blends with gasoline. However, the new Vertimass catalyst breaks that barrier by producing a hydrocarbon that can be blended at much higher levels.