DuPont, BP, report Bu16 blends cause pass engine tests; on track for commercial butanol production by 2010

In England, DuPont and BP announced that test results showed that Bu16, a blend of 16 percent biobutanol and 84 percent gasoline, caused no harm to engines and did not “phase separate” in engine testing.

The companies have established a $36 million research lab in Hull, using wheat as a feedstock. The companies, along with Associated British Foods, previously agreed to develop a 400 million ethanol plant at the Hull location. The joint research efforts has resulted in 60 patent applications to date in its drive to establish a commercially viable butanol production process by 2010.

In other recent news on butanol development, Gevo announced it has acquired an exclusive license for use of UCLA’s method for modifying E.coli bacteria, that will improve its ability to mass produce next-gen biofuels such as butanol. Gevo said that the technology will allow it potentially to retrofit existing ethanol plants to produce butanol, at a low capital cost, and will speed up the commercialization of butanol by several years.

In Missouri, researchers at Washington University recentlyreceived a $425,000 grant from the US Department of Agriculture for a pilot butanol project. The university’s International Center for Advanced Renewable Energy and Sustainability is using microbes to produce butyrate from corn kernels. Butyrate can be fermented into butanol.

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