Advertisement

If you have an ACS member number, please enter it here so we can link this account to your membership. (optional)

ACS values your privacy. By submitting your information, you are gaining access to C&EN and subscribing to our weekly newsletter. We use the information you provide to make your reading experience better, and we will never sell your data to third party members.

ENJOY UNLIMITED ACCES TO C&EN

Business

Renewable Butadiene Deals Proliferate

by Melody M. Bomgardner
December 16, 2013 | A version of this story appeared in Volume 91, Issue 50

[+]Enlarge
Credit: Genomatica
A cylinder of Genomatica’s biobased butadiene, which debuted in 2011.
A grey tube with bulbs at each end bears a label that reads: “genomatica butadiene.”
Credit: Genomatica
A cylinder of Genomatica’s biobased butadiene, which debuted in 2011.

Three new partnerships signal growth in the fledgling effort to produce butadiene without petroleum feedstocks. Biobased chemicals firm Genomatica and Brazil’s Braskem are joining to produce the intermediate from sugar via fermentation. Braskem will fund and assist with R&D as well as pay for pilot and demonstration-scale facilities. In return, Genomatica will license to Braskem the right to use the process in the Americas. Separately, fiber maker Invista will collaborate with the U.K.’s Centre for Process Innovation to develop a way to ferment butadiene from waste gases. Finally, tire maker Michelin has partnered with the French agribusiness firm Tereos to make alcohol for a butadiene project Michelin announced last month.

Article:

This article has been sent to the following recipient:

0 /1 FREE ARTICLES LEFT THIS MONTH Remaining
Chemistry matters. Join us to get the news you need.