Advances in Bioenergy

7. Current Status and Future Prospective

In the first half of the 20th century, ABE fermentation was the second largest industry in terms of production capacity. However, with the development of petrochemical industry, ABE fermentation dramatically declined and almost all butanol was produced through petrochemical routes since the synthetic pathway were much more economically competitive. In recent years, with the awareness of sustainable development and the increasing crude oil price, the research on butanol production through fermentation processes from renewable carbon sources has being revitalized. In order to establish a sustainable and economical process for biobutanol production, the metabolic pathways of native solvent-producers, such ...