New techniques create butanol -- biofuel superior to ethanol
Jan 15, 2008 New techniques create butanol Lars Angenent, WUSTL
environmental engineer, in his Urbauer Hall laboratory. Angenent
is part of a team using new techniques to produce the biofuel
butanol.  A team of researchers headed by an environmental
engineer at Washington University in St. Louis is plying new
techniques to produce a biofuel superior to ethanol.  The fuel
is butanol; it can be derived from lignocellulosic materials,
which are plant biomass parts that range from woody stems and
straw to agricultural residues, corn fiber and husks, all
containing in large part cellulose and some lignin.  Butanol is
considered to be a better biofuel than ethanol because it's less
corrosive and has a higher caloric value, giving it a higher
energy value. Like ethanol, butanol is being considered as an
additive to gasoline.  Lars Angenent, Ph.D., assistant professor
of energy, environmental and chemical engineering, takes pre-
treated corn fiber, a byprod