Issue 19/2012 - The era of bio-based materials is coming

Bio-based chemicals are not the first to appear
in recent years.
As early as the late 40s of the 20th century, when the development of petrochemical derivatives was still relatively backward, many chemicals relied on bio-based routes
.
For example, whale oil was once used as lamp oil and lubricating oil; The process of fermenting acetone-butanol-ethanol from sugar to provide important chemical solvents.
.
.

。 With the development and utilization of petroleum resources, bio-based products are gradually replaced by petrochemicals, and petrochemical raw materials have long dominated the chemical industry
, although some bio-based chemicals such as ethanol, citric acid, oleochemicals, ascorbic acid and industrial enzymes continue to be produced 。 Until recent years, with the gradual lack of global petrochemical energy and energy consumption rising year by year, global warming, environmental pollution and other changes in the global socio-economic environment, bio-based materials have developed rapidly again, it is believed that although there may be risks such as raw materials, the future of bio-based chemicals will be broader, and technological progress will enhance the competitiveness of bio-based chemicals.
.
.

Recently, Avantium, a newly founded company in Dutch technology, partnered with Danone, a major French food company, to develop bio-based PEF water bottles (polyethylene furanoate) for its global bottled water business; Vinytha, a subsidiary of Solvay in Belgium, has started up a 100,000-ton epichlorohydrin (ECH) plant
based on refined glycerin at Map Ta Phut in Thailand.
In addition, bio-based polymers such as polylactic acid, polyethylene (PE) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET), bio-based alternatives such as butanediol, polyacrylic acid and adipic acid, and more complex intermediates such as succinic acid are also emerging
.

The development of bio-based materials is gradually moving from demonstration operations to commercialization, and its downstream development is also very rapid - a series of actions around the world show that the era of bio-based materials has arrived
.
The need for scale and commodification drives scientific and technological innovation and provides opportunities
for chemical and agricultural companies to collaborate at both the financial and market levels.

The battle over the process route of bio-based materials

There is not only one
production route for bio-based materials to choose from.
In the long run, there is no definitive answer as to which process route will be most successful; Whether bio-based chemicals are fully competitive in terms of cost and whether they can generate broader value (e.
g.
green product value) is not obvious
at this stage.

Various biomass process routes such as enzymatic hydrolysis, catalyst, and pyrolysis are being developed, and show economic and technological advantages
to varying degrees.
From a raw material point of view, fermentation away from sugar and starch seems more attractive, which is also the debate for the production of chemical products from food crops, but the current second-generation process using biomass and biowaste is still less
efficient.
The route for the production of syngas from biomass and then the further production of chemicals using Fischer-Tropsch reaction technology may be better; It is also possible that a full range of products from biorefineries may be suitable for development, such as the research on CO2 capture as a chemical raw material for C1, which has already been conducted, and polyurethane and polycarbonate products used in adhesives and sealants
.

Is raw material supply and logistics a limitation?

As production grows, problems with the supply and logistics of raw materials for bio-based materials will persist
for a long time.
In regions rich in sugar, palm oil and corn raw materials, such as Brazil, Asia and some parts of North America, the production of bio-based materials is ideal
.

Is it also feasible to concentrate large quantities of low-density biomass produced in dispersed areas to places that do not have feedstock advantages, such as Europe? Demonstration scale production of 10,000 tons may not be difficult, but if it rises to a commercial scale of 100,000 tons, the raw material and logistics challenges will increase
exponentially.
The issue of feedstock supply and logistics has raised questions about whether this will limit the fact that bio-based chemicals will always be a complement
to petrochemical-based industries.

Runneboom, chairman of the Dutch Bio-renewable Energy Business Platform, said that in any case, the consumption of bio-based chemicals will be in short
supply for some time, driven by the need for sustainable development and public opinion.
He noted that some companies will be at the forefront of bio-based production processes and raw materials, while others will continue to wait and see until the market matures
.
He believes that the production of biomaterials will not be able to support the growth potential of the market, this phenomenon will continue to be prominent, and as consumer goods manufacturers continue to pursue environmental protection and sustainable development and fulfill their commitments, bio-based materials will attract more market attention
.
Alle Bruggink, a technology and sustainability consultant, agrees
.

Development of sustainable bio-based chemicals

Biomaterials will play a greater role in the chemical industry in the short term, but in which areas and under what conditions will it be sustainable in the long term?
Alle Bruggink believes that the market for bio-based materials will be concentrated in two areas – fine and specialty chemicals driven by privatized producers seeking green alternatives, and commodities and petrochemicals, driven by laws and regulations and brand producers such as Coca-Cola, Danone
, Unilever and others seeking valuable green products.

In the 90s of the 20th century, research on renewable energy technologies focused on biofuels – mainly ethanol and biodiesel
.
Over the past decade, however, many researchers have shifted their focus to bio-based chemicals
.
They are hopeful about
the potential advantages of non-standard feedstock sources for bio-based chemicals, society's focus on sustainability, and the premium that fuel prices pass on to chemicals.
Over the past few years, a series of unsung successes have provided an additional impetus
to the development of bio-based chemicals.

Nexant's analysis shows several clear trends in the development of bio-based chemicals:
• Dominant chemicals in terms of published production capacity include methanol/dimethyl ether, biomass disproportionation oils (metathesis oils) and ethylene;
• From the perspective of chemical classification, bio-based alcohols, olefins and oils are the products with the most commercialization plans;
Alternative (i.
e.
temporary alternative) chemicals are the main focus of chemical development, with about 75% of projects clustered here
.
If biomass disproportionation is not included, the share of alternative chemicals will account for more than
90%.

There is a clear
difference between projects that use first-generation raw materials and second-generation raw materials.
About 58% of the projects in the survey used corn, sucrose, glucose or vegetable oil as raw materials
.
The remaining 42% is cellulose, lignocellulosic biomass, or other raw materials
.

Oil and gas price volatility is a major source of risk for bio-based routes

In a recent study, Nexant evaluated
the capacity derived from renewable raw materials.
According to public information, 6 million tons of bio-based chemical production capacity will be added by 2015 (see Figure 1).

By comparison, the global capacity of conventional chemicals is estimated at around 400 million tonnes
by then.

Although bio-based chemicals will still account for only a small part of future chemical production capacity in the near future, they are growing at an impressive
rate.
Based on the current capacity of 500,000 tons, bio-based chemicals will grow
by 1.
5 million tons per year by 2015.

Technical prowess alone will not determine the success or failure
of these attempts.
In addition to new attempts and the long-term risks of biotechnology, the project also has to respond to the overall economic situation at any time; Changes in raw material prices can also deal a fatal blow
to the development of new technologies.
This factor may best determine whether a bio-based route is competitive
compared to other factors.
While the price growth of some bio-based feedstocks, particularly maize and sugarcane, fluctuates, the main source of risk remains oil and gas prices
.

Despite the risks, Nexant believes that nearly two-thirds of the claimed 4 million tons of capacity will be completed by 2015, with an average annual growth of 1 million tons
.
While the stakes remain high in the bio-based chemicals space, some of the new players committed to commercialization have the potential to become strong contenders
.

(Compiled by Wu Jun)