SEOUL, KOREA - GS Caltex has successfully developed the mass-production technology for biobutanol, a renewable fuel considered a clean fuel for the next generation. The company plans to begin mass-producing the fuel from 2016 after undergoing a pilot production program.

 

The refiner said on November 5 that it has succeeded in developing the biobutanol mass-production technology based on waste farm crops, waste wood, and oil palm trunks. This is the first time in the world to come up with a wood-based biomass fuel. Cobalt Technologies of the United States and Green Biologics of Britain have developed biobutanols based on corn, sugarcane, switchgrass, and cornstalk.

 

A company official explained that his company's new technology is three times higher in productivity comparing to other existing methods. As it is based on non-food resources, the company can lower production cost further down.

 

The company will begin a pilot production from January next year, followed by full mass-production from early 2016. GS Caltex figures that it would take at least five years to ramp up to a mass-production system as it is the world's first attempt to produce biomass fuel from wood-based sources. 

 

Industry experts see that the market outlook for biobutanol is very bright given many developed countries started regulating biofuels originating from food resources. Assuming that biobutanol could replace just 5 percent of the 11 billion liters of gasoline consumed in a year, this will be a 660-billion-won market.

 

Article provided by The Korea Economic Daily