BP ups stakes on biofuels, biobutanol

17 October 2007 05:25  [Source: ICIS news]

SINGAPORE (ICIS news)--BP is working to create biofuel processes that increase crop yield and developing marginal land that uses crops not suitable for food but sustainable for energy, a senior company official said on Wednesday.

"Biofuels are a key strategic element of our low-carbon energy agenda alongside renewable and alternative power," Sung-Woo Hur, vice-president of business development at BP Biofuels Singapore, said.

He was presenting at a two-day ethanol and biofuels conference that ends on Thursday.

The global drive towards biofuels is driven by a search for environmentally friendly renewable energy sources and for alternatives to pricey gasoline.

Citing a joint BP and McKinsey study, Hur estimated that by 2030, 85bn-195bn gallons/year of biofuel will be produced, replacing between 10% and 24% of gasoline demand.

Assuming that biofuel is produced at 196bn gallons/year, this would require a "capital-intensive" cumulative investment of $700bn from now until 2030 and a build rate of one times 100m gallon plants every four-five years, he said.

This idea is not far-fetched, considering that "in China, a new 500MW coal plant comes alive every five days," Hur added.

However, the biofuel industry is currently subjected to feedstock constraints and the land available for biofuel crops is limited.

To date, BP has embarked on biofuels projects such as a jatropha joint venture with UK biodiesel producer D1 Oils and is investing $500m over the next 10 years to work with the Energy Bioscience Institute (EBI) on bioethanol projects.

The jatropha crop is favoured by some as it grows in arid, non-arable land and does not compete as food unlike other energy crops such as corn.

The oil major is also touting biobutanol as a more energy-efficient and environmentally-friendly alternative to bioethanol and is continuing its effort with DuPont to deliver the product commercially by the year's end

Current ethanol and biodiesel components have provided a great foundation for the biofuels industry, but there is scope to supplement these with advanced biofuels such as biobutanol, said Hur.

Butanol that is produced from biomass is called biobutanol to reflect its origin, although it has the same chemical properties as butanol produced from petroleum.

Biobutanol has an energy content of 86% and bioethanol has two-thirds. In comparison, gasoline has 100% energy content.

Biobutanol, which is considered an advanced biofuel, carries less risk of corrosion or deposit formation, and is easier to blend and used on existing infrastructure, said Hur.

It can also be blended in higher proportion with gasoline at 17%, compared with bioethanol, which can currently be blended at 10%, he added.

Hur estimated that when run over 10,000 miles using 16% biobutanol-blended gasoline, "the world will save roughly the GHG (greenhouse gas) emission of 10% blended bioethanol on a like-to-like basis".

By: Jeanne Lim
+65 6780 4359

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