Shares of Rentech (AMEX:RTK) are soaring today as word spreads about the company’s latest deal. Shares have more than doubled in less than two weeks.

This is how giants are born, one small advance at a time. It was just eleven days ago I last wrote about Rentech (AMEX:RTK) and its biofuel industry advances.

Shares of the company traded for just $0.62 on the day I wrote, “If done well, Fischer-Tropsch technology could be the transitive fuel source this country needs as it seeks its energy independence.”

Today those same shares traded as high as $2.24. That is a 260% gain in less than eight trading days.

The news keeps getting better for this company. Two weeks ago I was writing about its breakthrough in the aviation industry. A standards-creating board gave the go-ahead to use the company’s fuel in aviation-grade jet fuel.

It was a major step forward for a company that has been working to prove its fuel-source capabilities for several long years.

Selling what they don’t have

Today’s news comes from the aviation segment, but it involves vehicles that will hopefully never leave the tarmac.

Rentech just inked a deal with eight major airlines to provide its synthetic diesel, RenDiesel, in airport-based ground service equipment working out of Los Angeles International Airport.

Starting when its production facility is finally online in 2012, the company will begin supplying 1.5 million gallons of diesel each year to the various airlines.

The equipment will be the first of their kind to run the low-emission fuel source that boast a near-zero carbon footprint that meets California’s stringent fuel standards.

As I have always said (usually with a negative, political connotation), “It starts in California and heads east.”

This time, starting on the Left Coast is good news. It will set a precedent for the nation’s other large airports as they work to lower their emissions and qualify for tax credits and other incentives.

Of course, the news is not without risk. Any $350 million company that was a $150 million company two weeks ago is going to be filled with various levels of risk.

In Rentech’s case, it will come down to the company’s proposed Rialto, California production site.

Yes, the facility that is expected to make all of this diesel and jet fuel is not on line just yet. In fact, the ribbon cutting is still over two years away. Heck, ground breaking isn’t even scheduled for at least another fifteen months or so.

A lot could happen during that time to jeopardize those future revenue streams investors are betting on today. Getting rich off of Rentech’s success is far from a sure thing, but it is more possible today than it was yesterday.

Remember, no giant was ever born an oversized monstrosity. Even Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) started as a mere notion of a business plan several evolutions ago.

Rentech appears to be taking the steps it needs to grow into a large, successful firm.

It is a company worth watching and, if you can afford some risk in your portfolio, is a company worth engaging in some due diligence. I’d start with Rentech’s latest earnings report.

That quarterly profit figure sure is intriguing.

Source: Airline Cutbacks? Not for Rentech