Something New

To me, anyway. A potentially superior biofuel - butanol. Via R-Squared:

How does butanol compare with ethanol as an alternative fuel?

Butanol has many superior properties as an alternative fuel when compared to ethanol. These include:

-Higher energy content (110,000 Btu’s per gallon for butanol vs. 84,000 Btu per gallon for ethanol). Gasoline contains about 115,000 Btu’s per gallon.

-Butanol is six times less "evaporative" than ethanol and 13.5 times less evaporative than gasoline, making it safer to use as an oxygenate in Arizona, California and other states, thereby eliminating the need for very special blends during the summer and winter months.

-Butanol can be shipped through existing fuel pipelines where ethanol must be transported via rail, barge or truck

-Butanol can be used as a replacement for gasoline gallon for gallon e.g. 100%, or any other percentage. Ethanol can only be used as an additive to gasoline up to about 85% and then only after significant modifications to the engine. Worldwide 10% ethanol blends predominate.

If you read this website, they claim that butanol can replace gasoline in conventional engines, without any modification. They also claim they can make butanol out of corn, with a per-bushel yield similar to conventional ethanol production. That's not great, but butanol's superior energy yield might make it a winner.

One method of making butanol is using synthesis gas, the same feedstock used in the Fischer-Tropsch process. That might mean the plasma-FT process we heard about months ago might be one way of making this stuff without relying on corn. But don't take my word on that.

Interestingly, the reports I've seen quote a price of $3.75/gallon for butanol, or $0.93 per litre. Given that gasoline is selling for more than that in Canada most days, and is likely to go to $1.20 this summer, I wonder if we'll see any experimentation.