DuPont "well on its way" to selling biobutanol this year

[HoosierRon]

This week at the Piper Jaffray Alternative Energy Symposium, which focused on industry and investment trends in solar, cleantech and biofuels, DuPont Biofuels Vice President and General Manager John Ranieri said that DuPont is well on its way to commercializing their biofuel technologies. These technologies include some of the lesser talked about fuels, such as biobutanol and cellulosic ethanol.

http://www.autobloggreen.com/2007/02...el-technologi/

And from DuPont's website:

Our first product - biobutanol - will be introduced by the end of 2007.

http://www2.dupont.com/Biofuels/en_US/

This is really big news. Butanol is an alcohol with a molecular structure slightly different than ethanol. The difference makes butanol a much better replacement of gasoline. It has more energy than ethanol (thus, no reduction in mileage) and there are no cold start problems. Better yet, you can run any gasoline powered car on 100% butanol without any changes. Unlike ethanol, butanol is not corrosive.

The reason ethanol has a head start in the marketplace is that it is cheaper to make. If DuPont can figure out how to make biobutanol in a commercially viable way, it will be a big step toward freedom from imported oil.

[racy]

What I was surprised to learn is that they've already done fleet testing both in the UK as well as the US - for about a year now.

[01cavalier]

Nice, I have read that butanol can be used in place of gas in most any car. If it's right, it would be a more viable alternative since more cars on the road could use it.

[68CoupeDeVille]

That's cool that it will run in any unprepped motor. What about higher compression motors?

[HoosierRon]

One man's story:

http://www.butanol.com/

Since it is an alcohol, it will have a higher octane rating, so there would bne no reason it could not run in high compression motors.

[Jhoff]

This is great news, I just hope they launch it here in New York.

[fspalt]

This stuff can directly replace gasoline without any modifications tcurrent equipment, cars or gas stations. You would think this stuff would be being studied by the goverment to make it cost effective. Imagine the year 2030. The US is the biggest exporter of a direct replacement fuel for gasoline. Corn grown in America turned into fuel for automobiles. But yet the oil tycoons George W Bush included would never let this happen. I dont think we will see a direct replacement of fossil fuels until they run out. Then, all of the sudden, something like this will come along and we will be fine. Its all about milking the conusmer for ever last penny he has.

[skylark68]

It would make sense to adopt this for mass consumers and let heavy industry and power companies continue to use oil for their needs.

Thanks for the info, it's very interesting.

[chakis24]

how would this be dispersed across the country tho? can i go to say true value or any local harware store and by gallons of this stuff? will there be butanol stations? thats the major problem with any type of new fuel- theres no distribution network.

edit: just read through the article. since dupont is partnered with bp, does it seem feasible that most of the current amoco-bp gas stations can be converted to carry at least one pump of butanol? that would be awesome- i have to bp's within 5 mins of my house and im sure theres an amoco or bp near my school somewhere.

[chevrobill]

What will be the price per gallon? Will it contain different octane ratings?
I'm not critcizing, just hoping for the best.

[poncho1982]

Nice!

Nothing I like to hear more, than advancement of the opportunity to keep from putting money in Arabs pockets.

[johnstarnes]

Originally Posted by HoosierRon

http://www.autobloggreen.com/2007/02...el-technologi/

And from DuPont's website:
http://www2.dupont.com/Biofuels/en_US/

This is really big news. Butanol is an alcohol with a molecular structure slightly different than ethanol. The difference makes butanol a much better replacement of gasoline. It has more energy than ethanol (thus, no reduction in mileage) and there are no cold start problems. Better yet, you can run any gasoline powered car on 100% butanol without any changes. Unlike ethanol, butanol is not corrosive.

The reason ethanol has a head start in the marketplace is that it is cheaper to make. If DuPont can figure out how to make biobutanol in a commercially viable way, it will be a big step toward freedom from imported oil.

Thanks for this! Now if biobutanl can be made from agricultural waste vs. corn or other food crops this would be near-perfect until we make the full switch to solar and hydrogen.

[jbartley]

Originally Posted by fspalt

This stuff can directly replace gasoline without any modifications tcurrent equipment, cars or gas stations. You would think this stuff would be being studied by the goverment to make it cost effective. Imagine the year 2030. The US is the biggest exporter of a direct replacement fuel for gasoline. Corn grown in America turned into fuel for automobiles. But yet the oil tycoons George W Bush included would never let this happen. I dont think we will see a direct replacement of fossil fuels until they run out. Then, all of the sudden, something like this will come along and we will be fine. Its all about milking the conusmer for ever last penny he has.

oh go do your homework. Bush has pushed through more energy reform packages than any of the past presidents. And he's all in favor of nuclear power, if liberals would let him.

[ByTheLake]

Originally Posted by HoosierRon

One man's story:

http://www.butanol.com/

Since it is an alcohol, it will have a higher octane rating, so there would bne no reason it could not run in high compression motors.

Interesting link, HoosierRon. Thanks.

How nice to see a viable alternative to petroleum-based fuels that can allegedly be used in existing engines. Personally, I'd pay a premium to use a US-produced butanol fuel.

[asim]

Can E85 capable vehicles handle biobutanol also? That would be pretty awesome if it could, especially with the backing of Dupont having it you by the end of the year.