Current Status and Prospects of Lignocellulosic Butanol as a Road Transportation Fuel in Indonesia: A Review

An increase in the demand for fuel, depleting petroleum resources, and enhancing for a better atmospheric are significant reasons to drive countries competing to find out petroleum fuel alternatives. Bio-alcohol, especially ethanol (C2H5OH) and butanol (C4H9OH), are considered by experts as potential substances for future fuel, especially for road transportation fuel. Compared with ethanol, the physical and chemical properties of butanol are close to gasoline. Hence the studies of butanol as a fuel alternative for transportation were conducted comprehensively in several countries. Butanol could derive from various resources such as petroleum-derived products, lignocellulosic biomass, food crops, microalgae, or waste gas from specific manufacturing industries. This study reviewed the advancement of lignocellulosic butanol production technology and challenges for increasing production scale. Besides that, it is also considered local R&D activities on biobutanol and its results and evolution of the government plan and regulation to utilize Alcohol as a transportation fuel.