August 8, 2008

BP invests in eco fuels

BP has been marketing themselves as a green oil company, they have changed their logo to look like a flower and now they are investing into an eco fuel business named Verenium.

This is the first time that BP have actually become involved with green fuels, but they are not doing by halves the investment is said to be around £50 million, but Verenium are in the field of Cellulosic Ethanol, which can also be described as fuel from non food crops.

Verenium are ahead of the competition when it comes to this type of fuel, as they have produced it through genetic engineering, this means that they are able to use grass, wood chips, sugarcane, and other plant matter. These can then be further manipulated through a specialised enzyme, which speeds up the ethanol process.

However, there has been no mention as to what the cash will be used for and what BP’s involvement in the production of this fuel will be.

Source [Gas 2]