Company News

On track with butanol

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Butanol and ethanol are both produced from corn or other plants and blended with standard petroleum. Butanol has 30% more energy content than ethanol and will improve fuel economy if used as the primary blend stock with petroleum. It is also less water-soluble than ethanol, so blends with petroleum may be transported through existing pipelines, a convenience that would reduce blending and distribution costs.

In December, Butamax signed an agreement in with Highwater Ethanol, a Minnesota-based company that said it would consider converting a corn-ethanol plant to butanol production. Highwater has a plant that produces 55 million gallons of ethanol a year.

Butamax is fighting US biotechnology firm Gevo, which is backed by oil refiner Total and speciality chemicals maker Lanxess, over patents to produce butanol from plants.