Biobased Industrial Products Priorities for Research and Commercialization (2000) / Chapter Skim
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Executive Summary
Executive Summary
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These "biobased industrial products" will include liquid fuels, chemicals, lubricants, plastics, and building materials. For example, genetically engineered crops currently under development include rapeseed that produces industrial oils, corn that produces specialty chemicals, and transgenic plants that produce polyesters.
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Today only a small fraction of available biomass is used to produce biobased chemicals due to their high conversion costs. The long-term growth of biobased industrial products will depend on the development of cost-competitive technologies and access to diverse markets.
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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.
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The amount of land devoted to crops for biobased industries will be determined by economics, as tempered by agricultural policies. The raw materials for biobased industrial production are supplied by plants as plant parts, separated components, and fermentable sugars.
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This capability has no parallel in petroleum-based feedstock systems and is a major advantage of biobased industrial products. OPPORTUNITIES: RANGE OF BIOBASED PRODUCTS Biobased products fall into three categories: commodity chemicals (including fuels)
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Therefore, similar percentage improvements in processing costs have much more impact on biobased industries. Also, the cost per ton of biomass raw materials generally is comparable (e.g., corn grain)
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Therefore, economic evaluations should first consider the potential of biobased replacements for the oxygenated organic chemicals of the 100 million metric tons of industrial chemicals marketed each year in the United States. Other significant opportunities exist to produce a wide range of industrial products from agricultural and forest resources.
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. The degree of public investment in biobased industrial products from basic research through proof of concept will be a public policy decision.
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In this regard, biorefineries have another potential advantage over petroleum refineries because plant-derived raw materials are abundant domestic resources. The availability and prices of biological raw materials may thus be more stable and predictable than those of petroleum.
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Experience with commercial amino acid production demonstrates the advantages of combining inexpensive raw materials with advanced bioprocessing methods. International amino acid markets were completely dominated by Japanese firms in the early 1980s.
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RECOMMENDATIONS Federal support of research on biobased industrial products can be an effective means of improving the competitiveness of biobased feedstocks and processing technologies, as well as diversifying the nation's industrial base of raw materials and providing additional markets for farmers. Policymakers should encourage research and development that would fill important technical gaps in raw material production, storage, marketing, and processing techniques.
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In the future this genomic knowledge will help scientists find new ways to alter microbes and plants that increase the value of biobased raw materials and improve the efficiency of the conversion processes. Specific recommended research priorities for biology include: • the genetics of plants and bacteria that will lead to an understand ing of cellular processes and plant traits; • the physiology and biochemistry of plants and microorganisms directed toward modification of plant metabolism and improved bioconversion processes; • protein engineering methods to allow the design of new biocata lysts and novel materials for the biobased industry; and • maximization of biomass productivity.
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Evaluations of the potential environmental benefits of biobased industrial products should include life-cycle assessments that examine all phases from production and processing of raw materials to waste disposal. The committee envisions a government-industry partnership in which the public sector facilitates and supports research and in key cases where industry will not risk sole responsibility the government (federal, state, and local)
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The current technology base for biobased industries is incomplete. Advances in agriculture have stressed crop production technologies without a comparable interest in conversion technologies to produce biobased industrial products.
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