Butamax Advanced Biofuels LLC (Butamax) is a biofuels technology company established as a joint venture between BP and DuPont to develop and commercialize biobased isobutanol. The company focuses on process technologies that enable the production of isobutanol via fermentation of carbohydrate feedstocks, targeting applications in transportation fuels and chemical intermediates.
Butamax’s technology is positioned for integration with existing grain ethanol facilities, offering pathways to retrofit plants for isobutanol production. Isobutanol serves as a higher-energy, lower-vapor-pressure gasoline blend component and a versatile building block for chemicals; it can be converted to isobutylene and further to materials for plastics, solvents, and fuel components, including routes relevant to sustainable aviation fuel. The company has built a portfolio of intellectual property around microbial strains, fermentation, and downstream recovery, and provides process design and licensing to producers.
Headquartered in the United States, Butamax operates within the broader bio-based chemicals and fuels sector, collaborating with industry partners to advance commercial deployment of isobutanol technologies.