Michelin, IFPEN, and Axens report progress on biobased butadiene project

In France, Michelin, IFPEN, and Axens have announced that they have progressed their BioButterfy R&D project for scaling the production of butadiene from biobased ethanol.  

The industrial demonstrator launched in July 2023 in Bassens and “confirmed the robustness of the process using both first and second-generation bioethanol,” the companies said in a press statement. The biobased butadiene was successfully used to synthesize butadiene rubber and styrene butadiene rubber.

The R&D phase is on track to be completed in “coming months,” with technology homologation to follow shortly after.