The Emerging Bioeconomy: Industrial Drivers, Global Impact, and International Strategies

Abstract

The continued development of the bioeconomy is expected to transform all segments of the chemical industry, from bulk to fine chemistry. About 10% of the current chemical feedstock base consists of renewable materials such as sugar, starch, cellulose, oils, and fats, but more non-food biomass resources need to be exploited as biobased production becomes more significant in the bulk sectors. Growing demand for feedstocks based on agricultural, silvicultural, and marine sources will increasingly shift global value chains from fossil-rich to biomass-rich countries, but how quickly this will happen depends very much on the cost-competitiveness of the various biomass-based versus fossil-based raw materials. The high costs associated with biomass logistics have been a key limiting factor for biorefinery investments. The best way to integrate mid-sized biorefineries into the established, large-scale chemical infrastructure is also a key challenge. Nonetheless, more and more regions and representative groups such as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) are recognizing the bioeconomy's economic potential and are developing strategies for growing their biobased industries into global value chains.