Des Moines, IA., June 20, 2006 (AgNewsWire) Pioneer Hi-Bred International, a subsidiary of DuPont, is pleased to play a role in the partnership announced today by DuPont and BP to develop, produce and market a next generation of biofuels to help meet increasing global demand for renewable transport fuels.
According to Pioneer President Dean Oestreich, this new partnership is good news for agriculture and for society as a whole.
“Pioneer, and DuPont broadly, are using science to deliver new to the world capabilities from agriculture to society. We’re using the sciences of biology, genetics, genomics, biotechnology and fermentation chemistry to create more opportunities for agriculture. And the great news for farmers is that it’s more demand for agricultural products.”
BP and DuPont companies have been working together since 2003 to develop advanced biofuels with properties that can help overcome the limitations of existing biofuels. That work has now progressed to the point where they are able to bring the first jointly developed product to market ¾ biobutanol. Oestreich says biobutanol is produced using a fermentation process very similar to that of ethanol.
“Butanol is simply another molecule that is different than ethanol, but it’s also a fuel. And what we’ve done here is we’ve found a way, through use of our science, to make the process more efficient and economically viable.”