BP HOPES TO HAVE BUTANOL AVAILABLE BEFORE CELLULOSIC ETHANOL

In an attempt to enter the ethanol market, BP and DuPont are trying to develop a more sophisticated type of fuel alcohol, called butanol. BP says it is meant to overcome some of the drawbacks of ethanol such as limited mileage, water attraction and limited blending in standard vehicles. Although its properties are promising, it’s still in the development phase with several years of research ahead.

When confronted with the question when butanol could be commercially available, Philip New, President of BP Biofuels, says “he wants to avoid setting expectations that are inappropriate on the basis of cutting edge biotech.” But in a interview with Ethanol Statistics, Mr. New said “we (BP) have our targets, but I hope that we will have butanol available on a commercial scale, before we have cellulosic ethanol on an economically sound basis.”

The comment was made at the end of an interview that covered BP’s recent joint venture with DuPont and Associated British Foods for the construction of a 420 million litres per year ethanol plant in Hull, UK. When asked for BP’s renewed interest for biofuels, Mr. New said that “BP believes that biofuels could represent as much as 30% of the fuels mix in 25 years time. As one of the main players in the industry, we have a choice: Either we do nothing and potentially lose access to a third of the market, or we try to participate in the biofuels value chain.”

The entire interview, titled ‘Butanol Available Before Cellulosic Ethanol?’, can be found on

http://www.ethanolstatistics.com/Expert_Opinions/Butanol_Available_Before_Cellulosic_Ethanol_051107.aspx

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Please contact Rob Penne
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Ethanol Statistics is a European market research and business information publisher. Through its website, it provides professionals in the ethanol industry the latest ethanol news, commodity prices, expert opinions and market analyses.

This release was published on openPR.