In Illinois, researchers at the Agricultural Research Service are looking at Lesquerella, a Southwest U.S. native plant from the mustard family, as a potential feedstock for biobutanol. The crop was first identified for its potential due to the high hydroxy fatty acid content in its oil but the challenge was with its presscake that had […]
In Oregon, an international research collaboration has taken an important step toward the commercially viable manufacture of biobutanol, an alcohol whose strong potential as a fuel for gasoline-powered engines could pave the path away from fossil fuels. The key breakthrough is the development of a new metal organic framework, or MOF, that can efficiently separate […]
In Denmark, a passenger car was the first in the world to drive 80 kilometers on a blend containing biofuel from seaweed. Wageningen Food & Biobased Research produced the biobutanol from sugars from seaweed. The successful experiment stems from the Horizon 2020 project MacroFuels. Wageningen Food & Biobased Research worked closely on this development with […]
In Singapore, a team of engineers from the National University of Singapore discovered that a naturally occurring bacterium, Thermoanaerobacterium thermosaccharolyticum TG57, isolated from waste generated after harvesting mushrooms, is capable of directly converting cellulose, a plant-based material, to biobutanol. Associate Professor He Jianzhong from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at NUS Faculty of […]
In the UK, the traditional Irish song “Whiskey in the Jar” comes to mind as we celebrate and raise our glasses for the world’s first test drive running on Scotch whisky. Don’t grab your whisky bottle and pour it into your gas tank just yet – we are talking about Celtic Renewables’ biobutanol made from […]
In France, ButaNexT project presented its research into a new and improved biofuel – biobutanol – at the Energy and Environment Knowledge Week (E2KW) Congress in Paris on Friday 28 October. Project partners from the University of Castilla La Mancha (UCLM) presented strategies to introduce butanol into fuel blends. They have tested the performance and […]
In the UK, Celtic Renewables has filed for planning permission to build a commercial-scale biobutanol facility from whiskey production waste streams in Grangemouth. Public consultations on the proposal will be held next month as part of the planning permission process. The Scottish town has long been the target for the company’s eventual scale up to […]
In South Korea, GS Caltex is set to start building a $44 million commercial-scale biobutanol facility during the first half of this year based on technology the company has been developing since 2007. It will use corn and cassava as feedstock for the facility. Already production was set to begin at its pilot plant in […]
E-Zero – ethanol-free gas, has been popular with boaters, but here comes isobutanol, with Gevo leading the pack. Are the economics a slam-dunk? Here’s the hard data. One of the more interesting trends in recent years has been the rise of ethanol-free gasoline. Overall, Pure-gas.com reports 9915 stations offering ethanol-free gas in the US and Canada — […]
In Washington, the National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA) announced support of the use of fuels blended with up to 16 percent biobutanol in recreational marine engines. This decision follows five years of evaluation performed by NMMA with the American Boat and Yacht Council (ABYC), under the direction and guidance of the U.S. Department of Energy […]
