2006/6/20 BP/DuPont

BP and DuPont Announce Partnership to Develop Advanced Biofuels
DuPont bio-based science and BP fuels technology expertise will bring next generation biofuels to market

BP and DuPont today announce the creation of a partnership to develop, produce and market a next generation of biofuels to help meet increasing global demand for renewable transport fuels.
BP and DuPont have been working together since 2003 to develop advanced biofuels with properties that can help overcome the limitations of existing biofuels. That work has now progressed to the point where they are able to bring the first jointly developed product to market. The companies' joint strategy is to deliver advanced biofuels that will provide improved options for expanding energy supplies and accelerate the move to renewable transportation fuels which lower overall greenhouse gas emissions.

The companies are leveraging DuPont's world-class biotechnology and bio-manufacturing capabilities with BP's fuels technology expertise and market know-how. By pooling their knowledge and expertise, the two companies aim to be the world leaders in the development and production of advanced biofuels, driving the growth of biofuels, which today account for less than two percent of global transportation fuels. Current projections show that biofuels could become a significant part of the transport fuel mix in the future - possibly up to 20-30 per cent in key markets.

The first product to market will be biobutanol, which will be introduced in the United Kingdom as a gasoline bio-component. Initial introduction is targeted in the UK in 2007 where BP and DuPont are working with British Sugar, a subsidiary of Associated British Foods plc, to convert the country's first ethanol fermentation facility to produce biobutanol. Additional global capacity will be introduced as market conditions dictate and a feasibility study in conjunction with British Sugar is already underway to examine the possibility of constructing larger facilities in the UK.

"DuPont firmly believes that biology will help us reduce global reliance on fossil fuels," said DuPont Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Charles O. Holliday, Jr. "Today we are demonstrating how DuPont's unique scientific capability provides solutions that are sustainable, renewable and matched to real world needs. Biobutanol is just the beginning of new solutions DuPont can offer to transform global economies by improving our use of renewable ingredients and natural processes to deliver products for a better, safer, healthier world."

"BP has a history of seeking, and delivering, ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions both from our own operations and from the products we sell," said Lord Browne, chief executive officer of BP. "Transportation is an important area to address since it accounts for around 20 per cent of global emissions and in the short to medium term increased blending of biocomponents represents one of the few real options for progress in this area on a global scale."

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BP to Invest in Biofuels Technology

BP aims to invest more than $500 million over the next 10 years in research on advanced biofuels technology, processing and feedstocks in order to bring new, advanced biofuels to market.

Conventional biofuels such as ethanol and biodiesel are typically made from corn, sugar cane and beet, wheat or oilseed crops such as soy and rape.
Working with researchers, farmers and other partners, BP and DuPont aim to identify and develop crops with improved potential for biofuels, including non-edible crops and fast-growing grasses that are grown specifically for fuel and farmed in an environmentally sensitive manner.

Crops grown for biofuels are then harvested and processed into biofuels.
BP and DuPont researchers are developing new process technologies to utilize new feedstocks and produce improved biofuels molecules.

The next generation of advanced biofuels offers many advantages:
Can be blended at higher rates into conventional fuels which can be used in unmodified vehicles ? helping to increase the diversity of energy supplies.
Advanced biofuels also often have higher energy content (more miles per gallon);
Advanced biofuels can also be more easily incorporated into the existing fuel supply, facilitating their introduction
Biofuels reduce the overall volume of CO2 entering the atmosphere by absorbing CO2 as plants grow while emitting roughly the same as conventional fuels when they are burned.
While CO2 is also generated in the cultivation and processing of biofuels, the net effect is still lower than with conventional fossil fuels. Advanced biofuels offer the advantage of potential for greater CO2 reduction benefits.

Today, biofuels account for less than 2% of global transportation fuels but this could increase to 30% in key markets in the future. Advanced biofuels provide a viable option for expanding energy supplies and accelerating the move to renewable transportation fuels with lower overall GHG emissions.

Advanced biofuels
Working together, two global leaders are creating the next generation of biofuels

BP and DuPont have created a new collaboration. Our goal is to develop the next generation of biofuels. By working together we are creating a brighter future for renewable fuels.

To make significant progress in meeting the world‘s growing demand for renewable transportation fuels requires new approaches and advances. That's why BP and DuPont have taken a fresh approach to biofuels and have formed a dynamic new collaboration.

Our teams of bioscientists and fuels technologists are working together right now to develop advanced biofuels. The first product of this new generation of biofuels made from renewable resources will be biobutanol.

While complementary to ethanol, which comprises most of the biofuel used in gasoline today, biobutanol represents a viable near-term solution to significantly increasing the amount of biofuels available in markets around the world.

As an advanced biofuel, biobutanol also offers a number of advantages in terms of accelerating biofuel adoption in countries around the world. These advantages will provide greater options for sustainable renewable transportation fuels, reduced dependence on imported oil, lower greenhouse gas emissions, and expanded markets for agricultural products.

Better together
Recognized as two of the world's top companies for the depth and breadth of their technologies and commitment to addressing global environmental challenges, BP and DuPont bring world-class talent and leadership together in developing the next generation of biofuels.

The joint effort to develop advances in biofuels began in 2003 when teams from BP and DuPont began meeting to explore new approaches to developing new biofuels that would have performance advantages over those currently available.

The result was the recognition that recent advances in biosciences could enable biobutanol to become a viable new biofuel component. While biobutanol has been used in a variety of applications for many decades, until now it had not been considered for large-scale biofuel applications because of high production costs.

Working together, the two companies are developing new biotechnology processes aimed at enabling biobutanol to be easily produced in markets around the world competitively with traditional biofuels.

To enable early introduction and market testing of biobutanol, initial production will be based on existing, mature technology. Initial production of biobutanol is targeted for the UK during 2007, where BP and DuPont are working with British Sugar to convert the country's first ethanol fermentation facility to produce up to 30,000 tonnes a year of biobutanol from sugar beet feedstocks.

In the future, BP and DuPont will introduce more advanced processing technologies jointly developed by their teams of scientists, enhancing both production economics and biofuel properties.

Working with the automotive community
BP is also working with automobile companies to substantiate the performance and environmental benefits of biobutanol as a gasoline blending component.

"Ford Motor Company welcomes this initiative and we are optimistic it will add significantly to the range of bio-fuel technologies available. BP's and DuPont's actions are entirely consistent with our own aspiration to develop sustainable mobility solutions," said Richard Parry Jones, Chief Technical Officer, Ford Motor Company.

"We are excited at the prospect of furthering our work with BP in this area."