BDO is used in the production of high performance polymers, solvents and fine chemicals. Major industries where BDO and its derivatives can be found include the apparel, automotive, and electronics industry, among others. The BDO product derivative chain has three main branches – (1) polymers, (2) tetrahydrofuran (THF) derivatives, and
(3) gamma-butyrolactone (GBL) derivatives.
Polymers - BDO is used directly in the manufacture of polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), which is principally consumed in engineering plastics for the automotive and electronics industries. Additional polymer derivatives include thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPU) and copolyester ether (COPE).
Tetrahydrofuran (THF) – When converted to THF, its highest volume derivative, BDO is used to produce polytetramethylene ether glycol (PTMEG) which is used mainly in the production of spandex fibers.
Gamma-butyrolactone (GBL) – BDO is also used to produce GBL that serves as an intermediate for N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) and 2-pyrrolidone as well as being used itself in the agrochemicals and specialty markets. NMP is a high performance solvent used increasingly in the electronics industry.
2-Pyrrolidone is an intermediate used in pharmaceutical manufacture and finds its way into high value polyvinyl pyrrolidone polymers.
BDO’s 2007 demand was approximately 2.5 billion pounds and growing about 100 to 150 million pounds per year. Many of the world’s largest integrated chemical manufactures hold significant market positions in BDO with multiple manufacturing facilities all around the world. These traditional petrochemical processes are based 100% on non-renewable hydrocarbon feedstocks as their raw materials.
Today Genomatica is successfully developing a bioprocess to make BDO directly from sugar. This process is designed to be significantly cost-advantaged relative to these current chemical processes. When mature a world scale BDO bio-manufacturing plant will utilize less than ¼ percent of world sugar supplies. Furthermore, this breakthrough manufacturing process can now be put to the sustainability test as it generates data demonstrating the positive impacts expected from the commercial application of sustainably manufactured BDO. Initial modeling data indicates a 25% reduction in Greenhouse Gas emissions and a 30% reduction in direct energy consumption.
Lab-scale validation is estimated to be completed in 2009 where it will then move into demonstration-scale validation. Upon execution of a licensing agreement and construction of a bio-manufacturing plant, commercial quantities of BDO may be generated and sold as early as 2013.