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• use of currently unexploited productivity in agriculture and forestry;

• reliance on products and industrial processes that are more biodegradable, create less pollution, and generally have fewer harmful environmental impacts;

• development of less expensive and better-performing products;

• development of novel materials not available from petroleum sources;

• exploitation of U.S. capacities in the field of molecular biology to selectively modify raw materials and reduce the costs of raw material production and processing;

• revitalization of rural economies by production and processing of renewable resources in smaller communities;

• reduction of the potential for disruption of the U.S. economy due to dependence on imported fuel;

• countering of oligopoly pricing on world petroleum markets; and

• mitigation of projected global climate change through reduction of buildup of atmospheric carbon dioxide.

The committee believes that these potential benefits could justify public policies that encourage a transition to biobased industrial products. This report identifies promising resources, technologies, processes, and product lines. Ultimately, the decision as to whether to accelerate investment in the research and development of cost-competitive biobased industrial products will be made by policymakers.

Raw Material Resource Base

The United States is well prepared to supply industrial production's growing demand for biological raw materials. The country has abundant croplands and forests, favorable climates, accessible capital, and a skilled labor force that uses sophisticated technologies in agriculture and silvi-culture. The expansion of biobased industries will depend on currently unused land and byproducts of U.S. agriculture and forestry, on expected increases in crop productivity, and on coproduction of biobased products with traditional food, feed, and fiber products. Enough waste biomass is generated each year—approximately 280 million tons—to supply domestic consumption of all industrial chemicals that can readily be made from biomass and also contribute to the nation's liquid transportation fuel needs. Productivity of U.S. farms and forests has been rising to meet domestic and export demands for traditional food, feed, and fiber products as well as biobased raw materials. Approximately 35 million acres of