Biobutanol: Ethanol’s Energy-Dense Cousin

Biomass Magazine July 2009
By Anna Austin

Salem, Ore.-based Diesel Brewing is working to implement a unique business model for the gasification of waste biomass into biobutanol and other valuable energy products.

Biobutanol has an energy density only 10 percent to 20 percent lower than gasoline, and its energy content is higher than ethanol, according to the U.S. DOE Alternative Fuels and Advanced Vehicles Data Center. It’s compatible with the current gasoline distribution infrastructure and would not require new or modified pipelines, blending facilities, storage tanks or retail station pumps. Biobutanol can be efficiently blended with ethanol to improve the blending of ethanol with gasoline, and can also be produced using existing ethanol production facilities with relatively minor modifications.

Under current U.S. EPA regulations, biobutanol can be blended as an oxygenate with gasoline in concentrations up to 11.5 percent by volume.

Read the full story