Bridgestone gets DOE grant

Bridgestone Americas has received a $9.3 million grant from the US Department of Energy to further develop a process to make butadiene, an important raw material for synthetic rubber, from ethanol. Bridgestone has been collaborating with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, which developed a catalyst for the process. As part of the program, Bridgestone will build a pilot plant in Akron, Ohio. The firm hopes that the process proves commercially viable and less greenhouse gas intensive than petrochemical routes to butadiene.