Butanol is a biofuel that corportations in the UK and the US are starting to invest in. Butanol is usually made from petroleum and as an industrial solvent, but with the increasing price of oil and the increasing demand for sustainable fuel sources BP and Dupont have announced plans to sell biobutanol in the UK by next year. A company called
Environmental Energy has US patents on similiar technology. Follow me below the flip for the promise of a sustainable fuel requiring no engine modifications...
I found about this at
Treehugger. Butanol as a biofuel has a lot of promise. I'll let
BP lay it out for you:
* Can be easily added to conventional gasoline, due to its low vapour pressure.
* Has an energy content closer to that of gasoline than ethanol so consumers face less of a compromise on fuel economy - this is particularly important as the amount of biofuel in the fuel blend increases.
* Can be blended at higher concentrations than bioethanol for use in standard vehicle engines. Currently biobutanol can blended up to 10%v/v in European gasoline and 11.5%v/v in US gasoline.
* Well suited to current vehicle and engine technologies.
* Does not require automakers to compromise on performance to meet environmental regulations.
* Can be used in higher blend concentrations than ethanol without requiring specially adapted vehicles. There is the potential in the future to increase the maximum allowable use in gasoline up to a 16% volume.
* Is less susceptible to separation in the presence of water than ethanol/gasoline blends, and therefore allows it to use the industry's existing distribution infrastructure without requiring modifications in blending facilities, storage tanks or retail station pumps.
* Is expected to be potentially suitable for transport in pipelines, unlike existing biofuels; as a result, biobutanol has the potential to be introduced into gasoline quickly and avoid the need for additional large-scale supply infrastructure.
That's quite an exstensive list. It also uses the same crops as ethanol, and in the future should be able to be supported by fast growing fuel crops like switchgrass. BP and Dupont plan to use their Biobutanol in only a 15%-16% mixture with gasoline, and hope to increase that to 30% in the future.
Environmental Energy is currently working on a "Pilot Plant" to test their techonology in the next 18-24 months. Last August they completed a trip across the country in an unmodified 1992 Buick Skylark with 100% Butanol. (They don't add bio- in front to distinguish.) They make some pretty amazing claims about thier trip:
The '92 Buick Park Avenue got 24 miles per gallon on butanol with no modifications - normally gas is 22 mpg. That is a 9 % increase. In ten states Butanol reduced Hydrocarbons by 95%, Carbon monoxide to 0.01%, Oxides of Nitrogen by 37%,
Those are awesome statistics, if true. There are discrepancies between the claims. BP expects a sacrifice of fuel economy, but Environmental Energy and the Butanol Wikipedia article both claim increased fuel economy. The Wikipedia article claims this is due to higher octane rating and subsequently higher compression. I cannot yet explain the discrepancy between BP and Duponts 16% claim and EEI's 100% usage in a standard engine.
At least we can say that Butanol is a biofuel that could sustainably add diversity to our transportation energy portfolio. This is a very promising development. You can be sure if BP and Dupont are successful the technology will expand rapidly.
Posted to Daily Kos Environmentalists.