Little Guy Beats Up Big Guys in Alternative Fuel Race, Shares Skyrocket (GEVO, DD, BP, TOT)
Biofuels maker Gevo Inc. (NASDAQ: GEVO) is seeing its share price skyrocket today following a court ruling that the company probably did not infringe on a competitor’s patents. Gevo is now free to sell its renewable fuel products to any…
This post may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive compensation for actions taken through them.
The decision came in a patent infringement case brought in 2011 by Butamax Advanced Biofuels LLC, a joint venture between E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. (NYSE: DD) and BP plc (NYSE: BP). French oil giant Total SA (NYSE: TOT) supported the Butamax side in the suit. Butamax has said it will appeal the ruling.
In mid-February Gevo filed a patent infringement suit against Butamax on the same day that Gevo received the patent on its fermentation process.
The fuel in question is isobutanol, which could be a substitute for corn ethanol. Gevo’s fermentation process can produce isobutanol at a cheaper price than other makers. Isobutanol also contains more energy than ethanol, about 80% of the energy contained in the same amount of gasoline. Ethanol contains less than 70% of gasoline’s energy.
While large scale production of isobutanol is some years (decades?) off, Gevo stock is up more than 35% today, at $8.03 in a 52-week range of $4.84-$18.75.
Paul Ausick
Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.
Paul Ausick has been writing for 247Wallst.com for more than a decade. He has written extensively on investing in the energy, defense, and technology sectors. In a previous life, he wrote technical documentation and managed a marketing communications group in Silicon Valley.
He has a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Chicago and now lives in Montana, where he fishes for trout in the summer and stays inside during the winter.