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At the Agra Informa Next Generation Biofuels Conference held February 12-13 in Hamburg, Germany, DuPont Biofuels Venture and BP Biofuels Business Technology announced that the two companies have established a partnership to develop biocatalysts to produce 1-butanol as well as 2-butanol and isobutanol-higher-octane biobutanol isomers that are of increased interest and utility from a fuels perspective. One goal of this partnership is to deliver by 2010 a superior biobutanol manufacturing process with economics equivalent to ethanol. According to Ian Dobson, technology manager of BP Biofuels Business, high-octane biobutanol at concentrations of 16% delivers similar fuel performance compared with current 10% ethanol-blend gasoline fuels. Thus, butanol can help achieve higher biofuel penetration without compromising fuel performance.