Invention – Using Biobutanol to create environmentally friendly, sustainable fuels

There are two well-known biofuels that are widely available today: ethanol and biodiesel.

• Ethanol comes (in most cases today) from the fermentation of corn, using approximately the same process that has been used for centuries to make beer and then whiskey.
• Biodiesel comes from soybean oil or corn oil using a fairly simple process.

A new biofuel called biobutanol is starting to get a lot of attention, however, and may eclipse both ethanol and biodiesel:

Biobutanol have several advantages over something like ethanol:

• It is a fermentation type of process, but it uses biomass (rather than a food like corn) as the feedstock
• It is easily blended with gasoline
• It can use existing pipelines
• It runs in unmodified engines

Now there is a new way to create biobutanol:

Bug Creates Butanol Directly from Cellulose

Liao, who has a track record for commercializing innovative biofuels processes, has proven that microbes can produce the advanced biofuel directly from agricultural wastes, as well as from protein feedstocks such as algae.

Liao’s demonstration of direct cellulose-to-butanol conversion could bring down the cost of cellulosic biofuels, which is currently prohibitively high. His protein-based process provides the biofuels field with entirely novel feedstock options.

The only question is how long it will take to commercialize.

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