etroleum is a limited resource and
if we keep using it global warming
will accelerate. Since this realization
has fltered in the quest for alternatives has
begun. Shale gas and natural gas are only
pseudo solutions as those supplies are fnite
and fossil, too. The only way out are fossil-free
resources, bio-based ones that is. Industry and
academia are developing bio-based processes
fervently and with the prerequisite that the
products must not be more expensive than
conventional ones. However, in late 2014 the
price for crude oil dropped below $70 per
barrel and has not recovered as of early 2018.
The prices for the chemical building blocks
ethylene and propylene have roughly halved
from 2014 to 2016. The dismal prospects have
made big players such as Braskem and Dow
Chemical shelve their bio-based propylene
development. Thyssen Krupp Industrial
Solutions sent its multipurpose plant for
organic acid fermentation in Leuna, Germany
into hibernation in 2015 until better times,
selling it subsequently to EW Biotech.
All around the world times are hard for bio-
based chemicals as they can rarely compete
with their fossil counterparts pricewise and
cannot even play a trump card in the matter of
climate change. Of the total energy demand
worldwide the chemical industry uses 30%
and it is responsible for 20% of the industrial
greenhouse gas emissions. In comparison, the
amount of ‘C’ that ends up as part of products is
marginal. Consequently energy consumption
is the main area to target if CO2 emissions shall
be signifcantly reduced. Nonetheless, support
for bio-based products is frmly anchored in
the policies of many governments and the
targets they have set are ambitious.
Bio-based policies in Europe
and the US
There is consensus in Europe and the US
that guidelines on how to switch over to a
bio-based economy need to be stipulated;
the approaches to implement the change
are quite diferent regarding the strategies
of the diferent governments and the
legislative conditions.
The European Union has agreed upon
a 40% greenhouse gas reduction by 2030
(compared to 1990 levels)
at least a 27% share of renewable energy
consumption
at least 27% energy savings.
More explicitly 20% of the chemicals and
materials in the European Union will be bio-
based by 2020, rising to a quarter in 2030.
In the United States the Biomass R&D board
envisions a billion ton bioeconomy. By 2030
one billion tons of biomass is projected to be
sustainably produced. It is supposed to be the
base for emerging bioproducts industries, but
mainly to target “a potential 30% penetration
of biomass carbon into US transportation
market by 2030”. Plainly spoken this means
biofuel in the forms of biodiesel or the
addition of ethanol to gasoline.
Looking for the bio-based ‘holy grail’ – will the result in
Europe be the same as in the US?
What’s the
new normal?
ACHEMA TREND REPORT