Biobutanol To Join The Quiver?

There’s a report in CNNMoney.com (4.3.07) called Better than ethanol. It’s about a green fuel called biobutanol, being worked on by DuPont in a partnership with BP. With all the negative press about ethanol lately (it takes a lot of energy to produce, it drives up the cost of food, it promotes condensation and problems with engines, etc.) scientists have been working on a number of plant-derived fuels than can be run in today’s vehicles. Biobutanol is likely to be one of them, but not next week or next month.

According to the CNN report, “The production of biobutanol is nearly identical to ethanol. They both ferment a food crop to yield a fuel. The only difference is the enzyme. And like cellulosic ethanol, which can be made using any plant matter, not just food crops - finding the right enzyme at the right price is the trick.”

Sources quoted in the article from BP, Valero (the biggest fuel blender in the country), Emerging Energy Research in Cambridge, MA, and the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) range from enthusiastic to cautiously optimistic to somewhat dubious. The take-home message, as far as we’re concerned, comes from Andy Aden at NREL, who points out that the paths to the proper energy future are going to have to be many and diversified. He says that biobutanol should be part of the solution, but that the current NREL position is that the main push should be toward cellulosic ethanol.

http://www.newenergywatch.com/2007/04/biobutanol_to_j.html