Cobalt Technologies this week said that it has made a breakthrough in producing biobutanol from beetle-killed lodgepole pine feedstock. Cobalt claims to be the first company to produce a drop-in replacement for petroleum and petrochemicals from beetle-affected lodgepole pine.

To evaluate the fuel's viability for commercial vehicles, the company has signed a fuel testing partnership with Colorado State University.

“With this breakthrough, we’ve been able to turn a problem into an opportunity,” said Rick Wilson, Ph.D., chief executive officer of Cobalt Technologies. “Harvesting beetle-killed trees could produce low-carbon fuels and chemicals, establish a foundation for a sustainable biorefinery industry and create jobs, particularly in rural areas. If we use only half of the 2.3 million acres currently affected in Colorado alone, we could produce over two billion gallons of biobutanol — enough to blend into all the gasoline used in Colorado for six years.”

Cobalt Technologies has partnered with Colorado State University to perform engine testing with a gasoline-butanol blend made with the biobutanol from beetle-killed wood. The fuel testing will be performed at Colorado State University’s renowned Engines and Energy Conversion Laboratory under the auspices of the University’s Sustainable Bioenergy Development Center.

Colorado’s pine forests have been devastated by the mountain pine beetle, which has infested nearly half of the state’s five million acres of pine forest. Additionally, millions of acres of lodgepole and ponderosa pines across the Western United States and Canada have been infested, with 40 million acres in British Columbia alone. From Canada to the Mexican border, the destructive path of the pine beetle has left brown, dead trees, which have little use, pose a significant fire hazard and threaten communities.

“Clearly, this is a significant achievement and a major step forward toward the production of cellulosic biofuels. Converting beetle-killed pine for biofuels is an extremely difficult process,” said Ken Reardon, professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Colorado State University. “If Cobalt can convert beetle-killed wood, it’s likely that the company can make biofuel from almost any cellulosic feedstock.”

Cobalt Technologies converts non-food feedstock, such as forest waste and mill residues into n-butanol, a product that can be used as a drop-in biofuel to be blended with gasoline, diesel and ethanol, as well as converted into jet fuel and plastics, or sold as is for use in paints, cleaners, adhesives and flavorings.

By MD