DuPont opens biobutanol lab in Sao Paulo

The joint venture of U.S. chemical company DuPont and UK oil major BP, Butamax, has opened a laboratory in Sao Paulo, Brazil state’s Paulinia municipality for the development of biobutanol based on sugarcane.The laboratory, which will target industrial scale to supply the export market located inside DuPont’s technology and innovation center, was opened in 2009 for R&D into fluoropolymers, advanced fibers, industrial and engineering polymers, chemical solutions, nonwovens and titanium applications. Biobutanol can be obtained from a variety of biomass feedstock, such as sugarcane, corn, wheat or cellulose. Brazilian sugarcane has proved to be an economic and efficient source to make biobutanol, Butamax CEO Tim Potter said during the laboratory’s opening ceremony. (November 4, 2010)