Fuel of the Future: Bio-Butanol from Wood as Renewable Gasoline

The forests of Maine: biofuel source of the future? (image: umaine.edu)

We have known for centuries how valuable trees are: they help us breathe, provide us with wood for shelter and can even be turned into a variety of products, like paper. But now, some investors are developing ways to turn trees into bio-butanol to help wean America off its usage of petroleum.

According to a Reuters report published last week, New York venture capitalist Lynn Tilton has purchased a paper mill located in rural Maine. The mill, known as Old Town, is currently extracting sugars from wood and has designs on building a refinery to turn it into a usable fuel product: “There has been a lot of interested parties in what we are doing here,” said Old Town’s president, Dick Arnold. “There have been several oil companies that have been interested in our extract and production of biofuels. There has been a number of chemical companies that have expressed the same desire.”

Bio-butanol has a similar formula to gasoline. Tilton plans on using the bio-butanol her mill produces as jet fuel for a helicopter and airplane business that she also owns. But many say there’s great potential for bio-butanol to become a major source of car fuel.
Right now, its closest rival is ethanol. But ethanol has its share of detractors; ethanol corrodes pipelines and also raises food prices due to increased demand for corn. But ethanol, right now, is a lot cheaper to produce, which is why people have concentrated on its production.

But because bio-butanol has so much potential, venture capitalists like Tilton are lining up. Said one analyst: “For a lot of chemical reasons, it’s a good alternative. If you’re a venture capital company and you said you are going to be making ethanol, I would say, ‘Do you have another idea?’. But if they are really focusing on butanol, that is a smart move.”

Another benefit of bio-butanol is the potential for job growth: the logging industry has been in severe decline the past few years, but that course may be reversed if bio-butanol takes off.

And since the Obama administration fully supports green energy development, tax breaks and grant money is available for those pursuing bio-butanol technology. In addition, Old Town still makes paper products, maintaining a steady revenue stream; the timber used in bio-butanol is essentially waste that wouldn’t be touched otherwise.

Bio-butanol is mostly looked at as a potential additive or substitute for gasoline, and will be developed along with other biofuels, many of which can be used as supplements to heating oil. As The HEAT Zone, reported earlier this month, a Massachusetts company has built a refinery that will soon turn vegetable and animal oil into a product used to heat houses.