Butamax develops biobutanol export basis in the country
Valor Econômico
Butamax, the joint venture between British Petroleum (BP) and the American DuPont, announces today the creation of its first lab in Brazil for the development and production of renewable biobutanol, a renewable biofuel that will compete with ethanol and gasoline in the world market. In an interview to Valor, Tim Potter, CEO of the company, said the unit of Paulínia will have capacity to export the product to the USA as of 2013.
The research and development laboratory of Paulínia, to be operated inside one of the premises of the producing units of DuPont, will use sugarcane as its main raw material and it will have capacity to produce in industrial scale between 2012 and 2013. "Sugarcane is the most efficient raw material and it costs less than grains, also used in the production of biofuel", said Potter. The company has technology laboratories in Hull, England, and in Delaware, USA, besides researches conducted in Germany and in India. The company did not disclose the value of the investment in Paulínia.
Some years ago, the company began making heavy research for the production of biobutanol, with an eye on the American, European and Asian markets. Biobutanol is the great bet of the company to replace fossil fuels such as gasoline, and the product will compete with ethanol. The basic difference between the biobutanol and the ethanol is that the first, of greater energetic density, has four carbon molecules, and the second, two. The fermentation process of the biofuel also differs from that of ethanol. The first market for the biobutanol in the world will be the USA. According to the Executive, no adaptation will have to be made to the vehicles for the consumption of biobutanol in the tanks.
Butamax expects to have scale to produce nearly 2 billion gallons (or 7.5 billion liters) of biobutanol a year in the international market as of 2020. The company has more than 70 registered patents of the product in the global market. Potter said Butamax should commence, in the coming months, the negotiations with sugar and alcohol plants in Brazil for the production of the biofuel by means of partnerships, with the use of the technology developed by the company. "The advantage of the partnership for the plants will be the diversification of their businesses, once the biobutanol will be a product intended for the foreign market. In the country, those companies will be able to negotiate the ethanol to cater to the domestic market", he said.