Cobalt feedstock breakthrough: n-butanol from beetle-killed lodgepole

In Colorado, Cobalt Technologies announced that it has become the first company to produce biobutanol from beetle-killed lodgepole pine feedstock. “If we use only half of the 2.3 million acres currently affected in Colorado alone, we could produce over two billion gallons of biobutanol,” said CEO Rick Wilson.

Additionally, millions of acres of lodgepole and ponderosa pines across the Western United States and Canada have been infested, with 40 million acres in British Columbia alone.

Cobalt converts non-food feedstock, such as forest waste and mill residues, into n-butanol, a versatile product that can be used as a drop-in biofuel; converted into jet fuel or plastics, or sold as is for use in paints, cleaners, adhesives and flavorings. Cobalt has partnered with Colorado State University to perform engine testing with a gasoline-butanol blend made from beetle-killed wood. The fuel testing will be performed at Colorado State University’s Engines and Energy Conversion Laboratory.

More on the story.

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Tags: biobutanol, Cobalt, Colorado, lodgepole, n-butanol

Category: Producer News