Biobutanol To Debut In Great Britain This Fall

Washington -- David Anton, DuPont’s venture manager for development of biobutanol, the world’s first advanced biofuel, thinks a lot about the high-energy content of gasoline that is missing from traditional ethanol fuels. This deficiency is one reason automakers and the driving public have been slow to commit to fuels that can reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

“It’s becoming more obvious,” Anton says, “that ethanol doesn’t have the same energy density as gasoline. It’s about 65 percent of the energy density of gasoline, so you’re going to get lower gas mileage for every tank of fuel.” DuPont set out in 2003 to develop a biofuel that actually can match the high-energy output of gasoline. Biobutanol will be the first of those biofuels to reach global markets.

“Biobutanol has about 85 percent of the energy content of gasoline,” says Anton. Existing automobiles can run on it without modification, and when it is blended with gasoline, as ethanol is today in many regions of the globe, it will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and petroleum use. “You’ll see basically no difference between gasoline and biobutanol,” Anton says.

Biobutanol will make its debut this fall in the United Kingdom. It is the brainchild of a partnership between DuPont, the second-largest chemical company in the United States, and energy company BP, which will distribute and market biobutanol mixed with gasoline. In addition to its higher energy content, biobutanol can be distributed through existing pipelines, while ethanol cannot. It also can be produced from a variety of plant crops -- wheat, corn, sugar cane and others.

U.S.Info.Gov, Sept. 19, 2007