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20/12/2011
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Aalto University in Finland has developed a process that uses microbes to produce butanol, suitable for vehicle biofuel and other industrial chemicals, from wood biomass.
 Butanol production usually relies on starch and cane sugar. However, Aalto University's process uses only wood biomass (lignocellulose), which causes no problem for food production.
A spokesperson explains that wood biomass is made up of cellulose, hemicelluloses and lignin, of which the first two provide a source of nutrition for microbes in bioprocesses.
Along with cellulose, the current Kraft process that is currently used in pulping produces black liquor, which can already be used as a source of energy. It is not, however, suitable for microbes, so, in Aalto University's study, pulping was altered so that, in addition to cellulose, the other sugars now remain unharmed – enabling them to be used in microbe growth.
With the EU requiring all fuel to contain 10% biofuel by 2020, large-scale production of butanol looks promising, since more than 20% of the substance can be added to fuel without making changes to existing combustion engines, says the spokesperson.
Also, nitrogen and carbon emissions from a fuel mix including more than 20% butanol are significantly lower than with fossil fuels. Further, butanol is not water soluble and has higher energy content than ethanol, making it ideal for transport.
Aalto University's believes that combining a butanol and pulp plant into a modern biorefinery would provide significant synergy benefits, in terms of energy use and biofuel production.
The project run by Aalto University is part of the Biorefine technology programme, which is primarily funded by Tekes, the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation.
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Author
Brian Tinham
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