By Matt Daily
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Corn-based ethanol may dominate the nascent U.S. biofuels industry for now, but fast-developing technologies will likely create new biofuels and markets in the next few years, the head of chemical giant DuPont's (DD.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) biofuels development said on Monday.
"I think over the period of the next five years or so, you'll start to see biofuels move from something monolithic -- corn to ethanol -- to multiple entries into this field," Thomas Connelly, DuPont's chief innovation officer, told the Reuters Global Agriculture and Biofuel Summit.
"We'll start to see the first of the advanced biofuels -- that is to say, molecules other than ethanol, molecules with improved fuel properties -- enter the market," he said.
DuPont, whose agriculture unit Pioneer produces genetically modified seed corn designed for ethanol, has set its sights on biobutanol, another motor fuel that can be made from corn or sugar cane, but has not proven it can be economically feasible.
DuPont owns a 10 percent stake in a planned BP Plc (BP.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) ethanol plant in Britain, which the companies plan to convert to a biobutanol production facility in the coming years.
"Certainly, we view biobutanol as something that can find a place in the market globally," Connelly said.
Biobutanol has a higher energy density than ethanol and can be blended at higher ratios with gasoline. It can also be transported by pipeline, a major hurdle facing ethanol shippers, who must rely on trains, trucks or barges.
Car engines have also shown they tolerate more butanol in the gasoline mix than ethanol, Connelly said. Continued...
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