Jan 20, 2012

By Doris de Guzman on 20 January, 2012 in Company initiatives It does seems like more and more M&A’s and buyouts are emerging in the renewable chemicals sector. Eastman bought bio-butanol developer TetraVitae Bioscience , Amyris bought Draths , PTT Global Chemical bought 50% of NatureWorks , and now bio-butanol developers Green Biologics (based in the UK) and butylfuel (based in the US) decided to merge their companies which will operate under the Green Biologics name headquartered in Abingdon, UK. The blog is not really that familiar with butylfuel™ LLC but it described itself as a biorefining and industrial biotechnology company focused on producing high value C4 chemicals, fuels and energy from renewable carbon resources. The company was founded on 1991 when founder, David Ramey, began his efforts to publicize the potential of biobutanol as an alternative fuel. butylfuel LLC operates a 1,100 liter pilot facility near Columbus, Ohio, specializing in the development of bio-butanol and butyric acid via fermentation. Green Biologics, meanwhile, has been focusing as well on n-butanol, acetone and butyric acid.GBL was founded in 2003. GBL said it has three projects underway in China focusing on molasses and corn by-product feedstocks. In India and Brazil, GBL’s focus is molasses, cane and bagasse while in North America, the focus is on both starch-based and cellulosic feedstocks. “GBL aims to work closely with key customers and collaboration partners in the value chain to manage an orderly entry into large global markets. Butanol and its derivatives are key intermediates in the production of paints, coatings, adhesives and inks, an $85 billion global market. Butyl acrylates are also used in the $700 billion global plastics and polymers market.” The merged Green Biologics will continue to focus on C4 chemicals and fuels development using renewable feedstock primarily waste and ag-byproducts, and patented biocatalysts from engineered Clostridia strains. Biofuels is also a strategic driver for GBL but the company said its immediate market focus is on butanol and C4 chemicals. GBL’s UK pilot plant addthis_pub = ‘greenchicgeek’;