Renewable Resources as Natural Feedstock

For more than 50 years, industrial chemistry has been based on coal, oil, and gas. Hence renewable resources have become less important, but shortage of resources, the greenhouse effect, growth of the world population, and the pursuit of sustainable development have awoken great interest in the energetic and substantial use of renewable resources in industry and research. A lower dependence on crude oil imports and raw material costs is currently accelerating the shift towards chemical products derived from renewable biological feedstocks. 

About 170-200 billion tonnes of biomass are provided yearly by photosynthesis with the aid of sunlight. Only 4% of this enormous amount is currently used as food, fuel, or basic material. The worldwide consumption of raw materials totals about 245 million tonnes, of which only 20 million tonnes are renewable resources (8%). The aim of the United States and the European Union is to increase this proportion to 20-25% by 2020. 

Which renewable resources can be used industrially From forestry, wood and resins are available from agriculture, oleiferous fruits, sugar beets, sugar cane, corn, and potatoes and from the meat and fish industries, animal waste such as bones. From these primary products the following ingredients - the actual renewable resources - are obtained  

Handbook of Green Chemistry Volume 7 Green Synthesis, First Edition. Edited by Chao-Jun Li. 

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