Key Takeaways
- Gevo has received an upgraded “A” rating from BeZero Carbon for its North Dakota carbon capture and storage facility.
- The Gevo North Dakota project is the only ethanol-based CCS facility issuing credits with thousand-year permanence under Puro.earth.
- The rating supports the credibility and market value of Gevo’s carbon dioxide removal certificates (CORCs).
- The facility has a Class VI well with capacity to store up to 1 million tons of CO₂ per year.
- Gevo plans to expand upstream agricultural data collection through its Verity carbon-tracking platform.
Gevo North Dakota Facility Receives BeZero Carbon Upgrade
Gevo, Inc. (NASDAQ: GEVO) has announced that BeZero Carbon Ltd., a global carbon ratings agency, has upgraded the rating of the Gevo North Dakota (GND) facility to an “A” rating. The facility integrates carbon capture and storage (CCS) and is a key asset in Gevo’s carbon dioxide removal strategy.
BeZero Carbon’s assessment evaluates project quality across multiple criteria, including additionality, permanence, and governance. The upgrade places the GND facility among the higher-rated projects in the voluntary carbon market (VCM).
Gevo’s Role in the Voluntary Carbon Market
CORCs Issued Under the Puro.earth Standard
Gevo is active in the voluntary carbon market through the production of carbon dioxide removal certificates, or CORCs, issued under the Puro.earth standard. The GND facility is currently the largest producer of technology-based carbon dioxide removal credits and is the only ethanol carbon capture and storage project issuing credits with thousand-year permanence under Puro.earth’s “Geologically Stored Carbon” methodology.
Alex Clayton, Chief Business Development Officer at Gevo, said the upgraded rating strengthens the commercial profile of the credits. “CORCs are gaining traction in the growing VCM and are expected to provide valuable co-product revenue for our operations,” Clayton said. “We anticipate this BeZero Carbon ‘A’ rating will only improve its value.”
Carbon Storage Performance and Scale at Gevo North Dakota
Class VI Well Supports Long-Term CO₂ Storage
Gevo’s North Dakota facility operates a Class VI carbon storage well that began operations in June 2022. According to the company, the well has demonstrated strong performance since commissioning and has a permitted capacity of approximately 1 million tons of CO₂ per year.
Clayton noted that the rating simplifies due diligence for buyers evaluating the project and positions it competitively within the carbon market. He added that the scale and performance of the well support Gevo’s ambition to deliver CORCs at a consistent and commercially meaningful volume.
Agricultural Traceability and the Verity Platform
Linking Carbon Removal to Upstream Agriculture
The GND facility sources most of its corn feedstock from within a 75-mile radius. To enhance transparency and verification across its supply chain, Gevo is leveraging Verity, its in-house carbon tracking platform, to support measurement, reporting, and verification (MRV) of upstream agricultural practices.
Nancy Young, Chief Sustainability Officer at Gevo, said the company plans to pilot an updated sustainable biomass sourcing and management program using the platform.
“We are committed to ensuring the highest level of environmental integrity, which also increases the value of our credits and benefits farmers,” Young said.
The initiative is intended to provide deeper insight into grower practices, strengthen traceability across agricultural value chains, and support land assessment and sustainability reporting linked to Gevo’s carbon removal activities.
