Global Bioenergies claims bio-butadiene breakthrough

Evry, France – Global Bioenergies has claimed an industry first with the production of bio-based butadiene via a direct fermentation process.

The French company, on 26 Nov, announced the success of a patented process in which an optimised enzyme strain was placed in a laboratory fermenter and, after addition of glucose, produced butadiene.

Global Bioenergies has been working with Polish synthetic rubber producer Synthos SA since 2011 and has invented a new metabolic route to butadiene involving a series of enzymatic reactions.

"We now have a process prototype for direct biological conversion of renewable resources into butadiene,” said Frédéric Easter, technical director of the Evry-based company.

“The butadiene fermentation by direct route has major advantages that induce better production costs,” he added. “We plan to demonstrate [the process] in an industrial environment in the coming years. "

"We have joined the programme in 2011, while it was still in the discovery phase,” said Synthos’ R&D director Jaros?aw Rogoza. “We look forward to seeing how the programme will behave in the next phase, dedicated to the optimisation of the method and its implementation on an industrial scale.”

(Image source: CPI)