Technology Overview
ButyFix™, a bioethanol technology.
Carbon Neutral Cellulosic Butanol Production Technology
The main approach in the effort to reduce our carbon footprint is to switch from the use of fossil fuels to biofuels. With regard to automotive fuels, butanol is much better than ethanol because of its higher energy content. ITRI has developed ButyFix™, a biobutanol technology whose theoretical carbon footprint is zero, and feeds on cellulose—nature’s most abundant polymer.
Applications & Benefits
The use of plant cellulose as feedstock is extremely advantageous compared with bioethanol, which incurs a serious problem because it feeds on consumable crop (mainly corn). ITRI’s ButyFix™ represents a breakthrough in the successful harvest of chemical energy stored in carbohydrate molecules in the form of cellulose. The key of ButyFix™’s technological achievement is successfully converting cellulose into butanol. As a 2013 R&D 100 Awards winner, ITRI has transferred the entire IP package to the new start-up Green Cellulosity Corporation (GCC), which has a biobutanol produce pilot plant under construction.