The BUTTERFLY Project (Biomass Utilized To The Extended portfolio of Renewable Fuels with Large Yields) officially started on 1 July 2023, supported by EU funding to advance the pilot-scale production of renewable liquid fuels for hard-to-electrify sectors.
More sustainable alternatives are urgently needed for industries such as shipping and steel. Dimethyl ether (DME) offers a promising solution: it can be produced from a wide range of feedstocks, has similar properties to propane and butane, and can be stored and transported as a liquid in pressurised cylinders and tanks.
BUTTERFLY aims to enable the flexible and sustainable production of renewable DME (rDME) and synthetic natural gas (SNG) from both biological and non-biological feedstocks. The project will demonstrate a low-cost, efficient pilot-scale process that integrates indirect gasification, sorption-enhanced DME synthesis, and methanation to deliver clean fuels for challenging sectors.
