Global Bioenergies and Butagaz will collaborate to develop and incorporate renewable energy sources into France’s energy systems.
Butagaz, a gas distributor from France, is partnering with Global Bioenergies, a synbio company in Paris that produces biofuel with renewable sources. Butagaz will support Global Bioenergies’ industrial development in exchange for the first batches of bio-isobutene the biotech produces in its demo plant.
Traditionally derived from oil, isobutene is, in the words of Global Bioenergies’ CEO Marc Delcourt, the “building block of the chemical industry“. His company uses by-products of the sugar industry to produce isobutene through fermentation.
Butagaz plans to incorporate this plant-based compound into its propane and butane bottles and tanks. Expected as early as this year, the first batches of renewable isobutene will soon start fuelling households across France.
Global Bioenergies recently moved to a demo plant, the last step before commercialization. The new partnership will help the biotech make that final leap and start the energy transition towards renewable sources that reduce the carbon footprint. The company already counts with the support of Audi and Preem, the largest fuel company in Sweden.
Once the French biotech opens its commercial plants, Butagaz will be able to purchase thousands of tons of bio-isobutene. Starting this year, both companies will conduct a joint study to evaluate the technical and economic aspects of incorporating biofuels into propane and butane sectors at a large scale.
This agreement is just another example of how the energy transition movement is gaining more and more strength, attracting big gas providers that are determined to contribute to the shift towards renewable materials and energy.
All images from Global Bioenergies