Butamax Advanced Biofuels, the joint venture (JV) between BP and DuPont targeting the production of biobutanol from a variety of feedstocks, recently signed Highwater Ethanol as the first entrant to the Butamax Early Adopters Group. (Earlier post.) Butamax’s business model is to offer current ethanol producers proprietary biobutanol technology to permit improved biofuels growth and plant profitability.
Highwater Ethanol is based in Lamberton, MN. The ICM-designed facility was constructed by Fagen with a nameplate capacity of 50 million gallons per year (mgpy).
Biobutanol can be blended at higher concentrations than ethanol, without the need for infrastructure changes. At 16% volume, biobutanol delivers twice the renewable energy content of 10% ethanol blends. It is compatible with current automotive vehicles, retail stations and fuel distribution pipelines. The favorable blending properties of Biobutanol help reduce a refiner’s cost of producing gasoline as well as providing an attractive route to RFS2 compliance, Butamax points out.
