W2 Energy Begins Construction Of Biobutanol Reactor

W2 Energy, Inc. today announced that it has begun construction on a biobutanol reactor.

Currently, biobutanol is commercially produced from petroleum. W2 Energy can make biobutanol simply by modifying its SunFilter Algae Reactor to grow a mixture of 60% biobutanol, 30% acetone and 10% ethanol.

W2 Energy will grow these alcohols in a modified SunFilter which has been seeded with the bacterium Clostridium acetobutylicum rather than with algae. The Clostridium bacteria will grow on the syngas produced by the NT Plasmatron rather than the SunFilter's combination of air and carbon dioxide. W2 Energy will build the biobutanol reactor with glass tubes rather than the current SunFilter's acrylic tubes, because the Clostridium bacteria can damage acrylic.

In addition to its potential as a transportation fuel, biobutanol is a popular industrial product with a worldwide market of approximately 350 million gallons per year and a price approaching $4 per gallon, yielding an aggregate worldwide sales figure of more than $1 billion. Biobutanol is used in commercial products ranging from paint to cupcakes.

"Biobutanol may become one of the transportation fuels of the future, and it already has a robust worldwide market for a variety of industrial uses," says Mike McLaren, President and CEO of W2 Energy. "Making biobutanol with our existing technology is a recipe for success."