Butamax hits milestones on path towards commercial biobutanol in 2012
In California, Butamax Advanced Biofuels announced several milestones in its plan to commercialize biobutanol for the transportation fuel market. Tim Potter, CEO of Butamax, outlined the commercialization strategy at the second and final day of the Advanced Biofuels Markets conference in San Francisco, California.
CEOs from Joule Unlimited, Sundrop Fuels, Qteros, PetroAlgae, SG Biofuels, Enerkem, Cobalt Technologies, and Rentech joined Bill Hagy of USDA, Paul Bryan of DOE, and Daniel Baniszewski of the Defense Logistics Agency in a series of frank discussions of policy, finance, feedstocks and processing technologies. Advanced Biofuels Association president Mike McAdams led more than 260 delegates through a detailed comparison of the policy “asks” of the various sub-sectors within biofuels, as he implored the industry to unite on common concerns as 2011 nears, a year which Shell recently described as “the year of decisions”.
Previewing the bolt-on biobutanol technology that Butamax is expecting to commercialize with corn as a feedstock by 2012, and sugarcane by 2013-14, Potter confirmed that the company is in discussions for “conversions…that’s with an s” in the United States, and is expecting to focus on Brazilian sugarcane for export. Potter said that the company is proceeding with engine testing and fleet trials, which will take two years, and said that he expects the fuel to enter the market with a blend rate of up to Bu16, under a biobutanol waiver that was granted to Dupont, which has partnered with BP to form Butamax.
Potter indicated that the company is staffing up, and expects to broaden the company’s focus from developing its technology to an active participation in industry-wide associations and initiatives aimed at the deployment of advanced biofuels. Asked if the company intended to broaden its focus beyond transport fuels, Potter commented that the technology applies to a broad range of sectors but that the company will remain focused on fuels.
“Our efforts continue to be focused on achieving steps to market entry and we are pleased at the progress our company has made,” Potter said. The company recently began start-up operations at the Butamax Technology Demonstration Plant in Hull, England. This facility will prove out Butamax’s proprietary process for producing biobutanol.
Biobutanol complements the success of the ethanol industry and offers several key advantages. Unlike ethanol, biobutanol can be blended at higher concentrations delivering twice the renewable energy in every gallon of gasoline. In addition, no modifications are needed to automobiles or infrastructure to use biobutanol. Butamax has developed an all new proprietary technology that will enable economic production of biobutanol. Biobutanol provides benefits throughout the value chain including ethanol producers, blenders and refiners.
Butamax is conducting biobutanol research across the globe as it prepares for commercial launch. The business opened a new laboratory to accelerate commercial designs for sugarcane-to-biobutanol in Paulinia, Brazil. In addition to Brazil, research is being conducted in India, the United Kingdom, Germany and the United States. Butamax has filed a portfolio of patent applications directed to its proprietary technology across the biofuel value chain including biocatalyst, manufacturing process, and fuel applications.
Category: Fuels
