Bio-based chemicals

Hatti-Kaul, R., Tornvall, U., Gustafsson, L. and Borjesson, P. (2007) Industrial biotechnology for the production of bio-based chemicals - a cradle-to-grave perspective. Trends in Biotechnology, 25 (3), 119-124. 

Obviously, bio-based chemicals could require less deoxygenation of the biomass than do biofuels. 

Industrial (white) biotechnology is rapidly gaining momentum as a cost-effective and environmentally-friendly technology for producing bio-based chemicals, materials, and fuels in a safe and sustainable way from renewable resources. 

At present succinic acid is a specialty chemical with an annual production volume of about 30 000 tons worldwide. Fossil-based succinic acid is most commonly prepared via hydrogenation of maleic anhydride (by oxidation of n-butane or benzene) [73]. In the field of bio-based chemicals and building blocks succinic acid is considered to be one of the most important platform chemicals [1, 74, 75], and as a result of the introduction of biosuccinic acid the production volume is expected to double or triple within years. Several fermentation processes have been described to produce bio-based succinic acid. Common feedstocks for these processes include glucose, starch and xylose [76]. The commercial potential for bio-succinic acid is illustrated by the numerous initiatives by companies that are working towards, or already... 

Just as the fossil fuel and petrochemicals industries are closely connected, the production of the same but bio-based chemicals will be closely related to the manufacturing of biofuels. The focus of commercialization by using biomass as a feedstock is mainly on ethanol, biodiesel, butanol, hydrogen, Fischer-Tropsch fuels, methanol, methane, and MTBEyETBE (methyl- or ethyl-tert-butylether). These products can be used either as biofuels or chemicals for further converting. In the context of this chapter, only routes for the ethylene and propylene... 

To substitute all 250 million tonnes of plastics in the world with bio-based plastics will demand 100 million hectares or 7% of the global arable land. This will only happen if crude oil is really scarce and very expensive. Then solar and wind energy will also be taking over the energy sector, including bioenergy, so these arable areas will be set free for bio-based chemicals and plastics. 

Keenan TM, Nakas JP, Tanenbaum SW (2006) Polyhydroxyalkanoate copolymers from forest biomass. J ind Microbiol Biotechnol 33 616-626 Kenawy E-R (2008) Selected production processes and applications of bioplastics from waste. Presentation at the ICS-UNIDO workshop on biofuels and bio-based chemicals, Trieste, 18-20 Sept 2008... 

De Jong E, Higson A, Walsh P, Wellisch M. (2012). Bio-based Chemicals Value Added Products from Biorefineries. Available at http //www.ieabioenergy.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Task-42-Biobased-Chemicals-value-added-products-from-biorefineries.pdf [24.01.2014]. 

A second company involved in bio-based succinic acid production is Myriant Technologies LLC, which was established in 2009 to unify the bio-based chemical business... 

Brochures, reports and publications on specific areas such as on Biobased Chemicals Bio-based Chemicals -Value Added Products from Biorefineries , Green Building Blocks for Biobased Plastics and Biofuel-driven biorefineries and A Selection of the most Promising Biorefinery Concepts to produce Large Volumes of Road Transportation Biofuels by 2025 . ... 

Fermentation is a viable means of producing solvents, with various alcohols and acids produced commercially by this means. From bio-ethanol, the following familiar solvents have been made acetic acid," acetonitrile, ethyl acetate, ethyl lactate, and triethylamine (Scheme 3.1). The products of fermentation can also serve as platform molecules to deliver an even greater diversity of bio-based chemicals. Bio-ethanol is being dehydrated to give a renewable source of ethylene. It is not hard to hypothesise that routes to further solvents that currently depend on petroleum derived ethylene, such... 

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