Biofuels projects
BP Alternative Energy has invested $2.9 billion in wind, solar, carbon capture and storage, hydrogen power and biofuels since 2005 – and is set to sustain this commitment in future
Our low carbon strategy is simple: we invest in projects that can achieve tangible reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, make a positive difference to energy security and offer commercial opportunities. Our biofuel projects are a major contributor to BP's overall Alternative Energy portfolio.
Investing in production
Biofuels aren't new to BP. We’ve already made significant investments to become a global producer of ethanol – with real projects underway right now.In Brazil, we hold a 50% stake in Tropical BioEnergia SA – a joint venture that’s investing $1 billion to build two ethanol refineries, the first of which began operating in September 2008. Both refineries will use sugar cane (the most efficient feedstock currently available), which can deliver greenhouse gas reductions of up to 90% compared with conventional fossil fuels.
Together with DuPont and British Sugar, we’re building a $400 million commercial-scale ethanol plant in the UK on an existing BP site at Hull. The plant, operating under the name Vivergo Fuels, will have capacity to produce 420 million litres of ethanol and 500,000 tonnes of animal feed annually – with potential to be retroffitted to produce the advanced biofuel biobutanol in future.
In the US, through our partnership with Verenium, we’ve followed up a $90 million cellulosic technology development programme by creating a joint venture, named Vercipia, that will build one of the first commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol facilities in the country.
Innovating to make biofuels even better
We’re investing $500 million over 10 years in the US in the Energy Biosciences Institute. Our partners in the project are the University of California Berkeley, the University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.In the UK, we’re working with DuPont to develop and market the advanced biofuel, biobutanol – with a new technology demonstration facility capable of producing 20,000 litres annually currently under construction.
In August 2009, we announced a joint development agreement to advance the development of a step-change technology for the conversion of sugars into biodiesel. Our partner in this agreement is Martek Biosciences Corporation. This technology offers an alternative to the current process used to produce biodiesels from vegetable oils. We believe sugar-to-diesel technology has the potential to deliver economic, sustainable and scaleable biodiesel supplies.
We are also collaborating with Mendel Biotechnology to develop new feedstocks for the next generation of advanced biofuels.
Latest updates
Recent news from BP Biofuels
