There are still financial barriers to the development of bio-based chemicals

Demand for bio-based chemicals is growing
at an unprecedented rate.
At the Alternative Fuels and Chemicals Coalition (AFCC) annual meeting in Washington, D.
C.
, experts and companies said that biotechnology has the potential to transform chemical supply chains and meet human demand
for sustainable energy, materials and food, provided performance is passed.
However, funding issues are increasingly becoming a bottleneck
for the further development of bio-based chemicals.

Currently, the consensus among developers of bio-based chemicals and materials is to prioritize performance as a product's development and renewability or sustainability on the back burner
.

Rich Altice, president and CEO of polylactic acid (PLA) producer NatureWorks, said: "Sustainability may get you into the bio-based chemicals industry, but the most important thing for the industry is material performance
.
He noted that 3D printing filaments are PLA applications that outperform other competing materials and are Natureworks' fastest-growing end market
.

Tom van Arken, CEO of Amsterdam-based Avantium, said he has been working to commercialize polyethylene furandicarboxylate (PEF) as a bio-based alternative
to polyethylene terephthalate (PET).
Akon said resin processors and brands are interested in PEF because it is recyclable, sustainable and biodegrades 100 times
faster than PET.

Michael Salzberg, CEO of Covation Biomaterials, DuPont's former biomaterials division, also said: "Delivering performance is key to
a successful product.
Successful products must demonstrate technical performance, a better environmental footprint and be inexpensive
.
”

In addition, funding issues have always plagued the bio-based chemicals industry
.
On the one hand, the improvement of product performance depends on capital
.
On the other hand, as more and more bio-based products move out of the lab, scaling up, managing partner expectations, and financing-related issues are more challenging
.
Altice said: "Companies must consider selling process technology at an acceptable price and coordinate
with brand owners.
Salzberg added that every step of the value chain can "veto" emerging products
.
There are also bio-based chemical producers who say that technology development and demand pull are helping more bio-based products enter the advanced development stage, but many companies need a lot of capital in order to build their first plant, which is important but
risky.

During the meeting, executives from bio-based chemical producers were asked what would help bio-based chemicals gain more market share, and the answer was almost always capital
.
However, a panel dedicated to project finance also cited current economic and geopolitical realities, including the Russia-Ukraine conflict, inflation, rising interest rates, a potential recession, and supply chain disruptions
.

A spokesman said: "Commodity prices are driving up
costs.
This will lead to project delays, which may affect the attractiveness
of the project to investors.
Another panelist noted that his company raised about $100 million for a project at the end of 2021, but the project had overspent $14 million and they eventually abandoned the project
.

Another expert said: "In the current market for bio-based chemicals, good projects are likely to be financed
in a timely manner.
" But across the industry, the threshold for obtaining investment will be higher
.
He also said that recent U.
S.
policies have expanded support for financing bioeconomy projects, but the details of its financing mechanism remain unclear
.