Biobutanol

Dedicated energy crops

We’re determined to do biofuels extremely well, so the use of alternative feedstocks that minimize any pressure on food supplies is an important part of our strategy. Producing biofuels from lignocellulosic biomass – where all the harvestable parts of the plant are used to make the biofuel – is at the heart of our approach. We are focusing on dedicated energy crops

Find out more about cellulosic biofuels and the project that BP is investing in in the US.

Dedicated energy crops – the benefits

Dedicated energy crops offer a long list of potential benefits:

they contain a lot of sugar that can now be turned into energy thanks to our advanced biomass conversion technologies
they produce higher volumes of fuel per ton and per hectare compared with current biofuels – up to three times more than corn or agricultural waste
they can be grown on less productive land and closer to production facilities – delivering improved logistics, lower costs and reduced environmental and agricultural impacts
as perennial crops many of them efficiently recycle nutrients and can take carbon from the air and fix it into the soil, which helps to improve its quality over time

Inspecting energy cane at the Vercipia Biofuels site in Florida, US

Producing cellulosic ethanol at commercial scale

Together with Verenium Corporation, we have a technology partnership to develop and commercialize cellulosic ethanol from non-food feedstocks in the US. We’ve also created a second joint venture with Verenium, called Vercipia Biofuels, to design and construct a commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol plant in Highlands County, Florida.

The Vercipia biofuel production facility is expected to cost an estimated $250-$300 million to construct. It is scheduled to start operations in 2012, with capacity to produce around 36 million gallons of ethanol a year. The project has been selected by the US Department of Energy (DOE) to enter the due diligence phase of a loan guarantee programme, under which up to 80% of all eligible costs would be guaranteed by the DOE. Construction work on the Highlands project is scheduled to start in 2010.