SBIR-STTR Award

Biofuels from agricultural sources is one component of the strategy for achieving energy independence. Specifically, bio-butanol is a more attractive fuel than bio-ethanol because it: provides better gas mileage; achieves higher blends with gasoline than bioethanol; runs in existing engines; has greater compatibility with existing fuel infrastructure; is less volatile than ethanol; is more amenable to transport via pipeline due to low water absorption. This project targets an innovative process for producing bio-butanol that significantly increase the theoretical yield of bio-butanol from cellulosic, starch and sugar-based raw materials. The increase in the theoretical yield over that of the existing fermentation technology is the result of process technology utilizing renewable electric power to supply reducing equivalents to the fermentation. These reducing equivalents enable the microbes to improve the over-all conversion efficiency of carbohydrate feedstocks to bio-butanol. From an energy balance stand-point, this technology enables the conversion of renewable electric power into the liquid fuel, bio-butanol. Thus, the process technology increases the amount of renewable energy that can be produced per unit of renewable carbohydrate feedstock.