BASF has produced its first commercial-scale volumes of 1,4-butanediol (BDO) from renewable raw material. The BDO is offered their customers for testing and commercial use. The production process wich uses dextrose as a renewable feedstock relies on a patented fermentation technology from Genomatica Inc., San Diego, CA, USA. The quality of BDO based on renewable raw material is comparable to petrochemical-based BDO.

BDO and its derivatives are used for producing plastics, solvents, electronic chemicals, and elastic fibers for the packaging, automotive, textile, and sports and leisure industries, among others. The starting materials for the production of conventional BDO are natural gas, butane, butadiene, and propylene. BASF currently produces BDO and BDO equivalents at its sites in Ludwigshafen, Germany; Geismar, Louisiana, USA; Chiba, Japan; Kuantan, Malaysia; and Caojing, China.
In July BASF announced to increase its global capacities for BDO to 650,000 metric tons and for PolyTHF to 350,000 metric tons within the coming two years.

• BASF SE, Ludwigshafen, Germany