Can “White Biotechnology” Help Create a Green Chemicals Industry?

For decades, chemical manufacturers have relied on complex and often environmentally damaging processes to synthesize a wide array of products from petroleum and natural gas, from plastics and process chemicals to vitamins and nylon. But recent innovations have pushed biotechnology into the industrial sector, creating a new field referred to alternately as “white biotechnology” or “green chemistry”. Pioneers in the sector are investigating methods to synthesize chemicals from renewable biomass without relying on traditional chemical methods. Instead they plan to use specially designed microbes and new molecules to create products from biomass feedstocks. They hope to reduce costs by reducing energy consumption, waste, and greenhouse gas emissions , effectively aligning economic incentives with broader social and environmental goals.

A number of companies, including DuPont, Novozymes, BASF, and DSM, have already begun using biotechnology to replace old production processes . In one application, DSM plans to begin producing succinic acid, a widely used industrial chemical, from biologically derived starch rather than from the traditional inputs , natural gas and crude oil. By putting the biological feedstock through a microbial production process, the company believes it can cut energy use by 40% while achieving a significant reduction in CO2 emissions. In addition, DSM expects the simpler production process to achieve major cost reductions over current practice, leading to rapid adoption throughout the industry. The first step, a demonstration facility in Lestrem, France, will begin producing bio-succinic acid by the end of 2009. If the operation is successful, DSM plans to begin commercial production by 2011 .

In a bid to support the emerging biomaterials industry, the U.S. government created the BioPreferred procurement program in the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (P.L. 107-171). Expanded under the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (P.L. 110-246), the bill gives federal procurement preference to bioproducts , including those derived from white biotechnology. In addition, the legislation creates a voluntary labeling program, set to be unveiled in 2009, to identify items that meet USDA-determined thresholds for the inclusion of biobased materials. To date, BioPreferred has identified 2541 products across 33 item types that meet the required threshold .

Applications of white biotechnology have already begun achieving reductions in carbon emissions and fossil fuel use. Production of plastics with biobased innovations already stands at 1 billion pounds (out of an 80 billion pound market). A 2004 industry report projected that if all plastic production were met using biotechnology, U.S. oil consumption would decrease by 90-145 million barrels per year. DSM estimates that a shift to biobased chemical production across the industry could account for up to 20% of the global Kyoto greenhouse gas emissions reduction target. This dramatic carbon reduction potential, coupled with its ability to reduce costs for chemical producers and cut dependence on fossil fuels, marks white biotechnology as a promising option in efforts to harmonize economic goals with climate goals. A key question remains whether this new chemical industry will help advance additional, key environmental and public health and safety goals, as well.