US-based Gevo gets funds for RNG facility

US-based renewable energy company Gevo said April 15 it could now finance the construction of a renewable natural gas project in Iowa after closing on a bond offering.

The company closed on a $68mn bond to help finance a project in Iowa that would source natural gas from dairy-cow manure.

“We have a good team that has shown they can develop and finance RNG projects,” company CEO Patrick Gruber said in a statement.

Construction of the facility is expected to start later this month, with a goal of bringing it online by early 2022.

Gevo said it plans to submit an application to the state government in California for eligibility for its Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) programme, which is part of the state effort to cut greenhouse gas emissions by introducing new fuel options to the transportation sector.

California has made strides on RNG already this year, announcing in February that the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority had signed an agreement with Clean Energy Fuels for 47.5mn gallons of its RNG supply.

Gevo will use some of the funds from the bond to finance a gas-upgrade system that could send the RNG through an interstate pipeline network operated by Northern Natural Gas, which owns and operates the largest interstate natural gas pipeline system in the US.