Green Plains ( NASDAQ: GPRE ) +10.9% in Tuesday's trading following news it entered a joint venture with United Airlines ( NASDAQ: UAL ) and Tallgrass Energy to develop and commercialize sustainable aviation fuel technology that uses ethanol as its feedstock.
The companies said they will jointly invest $50M to form Blue Blade Energy to develop the technology.
If the technology is successful, Blue Blade is expected to proceed with the construction of a pilot facility in 2024, followed by a full-scale facility that could begin commercial operations by 2028.
Green Plains ( GPRE ) will supply the low-carbon ethanol feedstock, Tallgrass will manage research and development of the technology including pilot plant development, and United Airlines ( UAL ) will assist with SAF development, fuel certification and into-wing logistics, and has agreed to purchase up to 2.7B gallons of SAF produced from the venture.
Also on Tuesday, activist investor Ancora Holdings sent a letter to Green Plains' ( GPRE ) board urging the company to explore a sale .
For further details see:
Green Plains flies high on jet fuel JV with United Airlines