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In the first half
of the 20th century, butanol was produced through the “acetone-butanol-ethanol”
(ABE) fermentation process, which used various species of microorganisms
of the genus Clostridium to convert feedstocks such
as corn and molasses. The ABE process was first employed during
World War I to produce acetone as a raw material for Cordite
propellants in the British war effort. Later on, as the automobile
industry grew in the U.S., butanol became an important chemical
solvent and ingredient for paints and surface coatings. The
ABE process became the 2nd-largest industrial fermentation in
the world (after ethanol).
Beginning in the 1950’s commercial ABE fermentation
was supplanted by new routes to butanol and acetone enabled
by advances in petrochemical technology and the falling price
of oil. Nearly all butanol is now produced by petrochemical
processes.
Today, changes in the landscape present a new opportunity
for biological production of butanol. The price of oil has
risen steeply relative to biofeedstocks, and TetraVitae’s
innovations in biotechnology have dramatically improved the
efficiency of the ABE process. Our objective is to make biobutanol
production again an important industry.
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