Gevo to Pay Farmers Incentives Under Farm-to-Flight Program

The three-tiered incentive system aims to cut carbon intensity.

Gevo plans to pay incentives to farmers for sustainable feedstock production. [Courtesy: Gevo]

Gevo Inc. said it plans to offer incentives to farmers under its Farm-to-Flight Program in an effort to boost production of sustainable fuels, including ethanol and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).

Earlier this year, Gevo received a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to support Farm-to-Flight, which the company said is designed to track and quantify the impact of “climate-smart practices” on carbon emissions and encourage farmers to adopt certain sustainable production methods.

Gevo said the program uses a carbon-inset model with proprietary Verity Tracking technology to measure and record greenhouse gas as part of an effort to monetize carbon reduction. The program will help Gevo incentivize farmers to employ low carbon intensity methods to grow corn as a feedstock for ethanol and SAF production.

The company said Farm-to-Flight entails adjusting farmers’ production methods with certain new practices in which producers can receive incentive payments in a three-tiered system based on increasing degrees of carbon-intensity management through methods including reduction of nitrogen use, soil-health enhancement, tillage reduction, and nutrient management. 

Gevo’s Verity program uses methods similar to the Argonne National Laboratory’s Greenhouse gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy use in Technologies model, also known as GREET, to calculate carbon intensity and mitigation in an auditable manner.

Jonathan Welsh is a private pilot who worked as a reporter, editor and columnist with the Wall Street Journal for 21 years, mostly covering the auto industry. His passion for aviation began in childhood with balsa-wood gliders his aunt would buy for him at the corner store. Follow Jonathan on Twitter @JonathanWelsh4

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