1. Biobased chemicals, Industrial Sugar and
development of Biorefineries
Adrian Higson
Food and Health ISP Annual Symposium
4th March 2014

2. A specialist ‘not for profit’ Bioeconomy consultancy
Celebrating 10 years of Bioeconomy development
Company Vision
We view biobased technologies as key components
of the low carbon economy delivering economic,
social and environmental benefits.
We believe the bioeconomy will create sustainable
business opportunities for feedstock suppliers,
technology and project developers, manufacturers
and investors.
Copyright © NNFCC 2014.

3. Political
To provide clients with a holistic view
of feedstock, technology, policy and
market development across the
bioeconomy, enabling them to make
informed business decisions and
develop sustainable business
strategies.
Market Dynamics
Company Mission
Economic
Social
Technological
Legal
Environmental
Copyright © NNFCC 2014.

4. Members of
Clients & Partners
• Multinationals & SMEs
• Public Organisations
• Government
• Research Institutes
• Universities
• R&D Collaborations
• Research Councils & TSB
• EU Projects
Copyright © NNFCC 2014.

5. Bioeconomy
The production of renewable
biological resources and their
conversion into food, feed, bio-based
products and bioenergy
Biogenic
Resource
Copyright © NNFCC 2014.
Bioeconomy
Biotech

6. EUROPEAN BIOECONOMY
Innovating for Sustainable Growth
A Bioeconomy for Europe
February 2012
A mechanism to drive sustainable development covering Environmental, Economic
and Social policy.
Today’s bioeconomy in Europe
• is worth an estimated €2 trillion
• accounts for 22 million jobs
• 9% of total employment in the EU
Each euro invested in EU-funded bioeconomy research and innovation is estimated to
trigger €10 of value added in bioeconomy sectors by 2025.
Copyright © NNFCC 2014.

7. Bioeconomy Value Chains
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8. Horizon 2020 bioeconomy funding ~€4bn (double the funding
available through PF7)
Bio-based Industries
Public Private
Partnership
The EU contributes €1
billion to the research
and innovation
program, European
industries have
committed to another
€2.8 billion
http://bridge2020.eu/
Copyright © NNFCC 2014.

9. Commodities, specialties & pharmaceuticals
Pharmaceuticals
Food Ingredients
Cosmetics
Flavours & Fragrances
Home & Personal Care
Polymer Additives
Solvents
Lubricants
Copyright © NNFCC 2014.
Examples

10. Bio Chemicals and Bio-Based Polymers
(supplying food, feed and chemical using industries)
Global market size
~ 50 million tones
Chemical Derivatives
Natural Products
Biopolymers
Alcohols
Other
Naval Stores
Oleochemicals
Amino Acids
Aliphatic acids
54%
7%
4%
17%
20%
Copyright © NNFCC 2014.
1%
1% 7%
5%
1%
Fermentation Products

11. EU Industrial Policy:
A Stronger European Industry for Growth and Economic Recovery
October 2012
Europe needs to reverse the declining role of industry in Europe.
A vision focused on investment and on innovation.
The priority areas are markets where new technologies are ready to deliver new
products or increase productivity.
The volume growth of EU bio-based chemical products* up to 2020, is estimated at
5.3% p.a.
Resulting in a market worth € 40 billion and providing over 90,000 jobs within the
biochemical industry alone.
* Including bio-plastics, bio-lubricants, bio-solvents, bio-surfactants and chemical feedstock
Copyright © NNFCC 2014.

12. Over 50 commodity or platform chemicals in development or
commercialisation.
Copyright © NNFCC 2014.

13. Strong growth in biobased plastic capacity
The LEGO® Movie
Copyright © NNFCC 2014.

14. Biobased Products - Market drivers and Challenges
• In use functionality
Product performance • End of life options
Cost of production
• Feedstock cost
• Process (operational) cost
• Capital cost
Value Proposition
• Product differentiation
• Green Premium
Copyright © NNFCC 2014.
Market

15. Feedstock Pricing – A new normal
300.00
Price index, 2005 = 100
250.00
200.00
Agricultural Raw
Materials
150.00
Food
100.00
Crude Oil
(Petroleum)
50.00
0.00
Source: International Monetary Fund
Copyright © NNFCC 2014.

16. Succinic acid value chain
Succinic Acid
Polybutylene
Terephthalate
1,4-Butanediol
Tetrahydrofuran
Copolyester Ethers
Deicers/Coolent
Polytetramethylene
Ether Glycol
Thermoplastic
Polyurethanes
Solvent
Plasticisers
g-Butyrolactone
Spandex Fibres
Fuel Additives
Fine & Speciality
Chemicals
N-Methyl -2Pyrrolidone
N-Vinyl-2Pyrrolidone
Fine & Speciality
Chemicals
Copyright © NNFCC 2014.
2-Pyrrolidone
Fine & Speciality
Chemicals
Polyvinyl
Pyrrolidone

17. Ethylene value chain
60%
Ethanol
Ethylene
Polyethylenes
Styrene
Monomer
Ethylene
Oxide/Glycol
EDC
7%
Polymers/Rubbers
14%
12%
Polyester
PVC
7%
Other
Image courtesy of Braskem
Copyright © NNFCC 2014.
Alpha Olefins
PVA

18. 50 shades of green - Every generation now comes with a degree
of environmental consciousness
•
Baby boomers (born 1946-1964)
– Silent Spring 1962
– Air quality, water quality
•
Generation X (Baby busters) (born 1964-1977)
– Union Carbide and Chernobyl disasters.
– Exxon Valdez oil spill.
•
Generation Y (Millennials) (born 1980’s through1990’s)
– BP Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico
– An Inconvenient Truth and Hurricane Katrina
•
Generation Z (today’s children)
– Recycling, solar panels, hybrid cars, energy saving light bulbs
Source: Jacquelyn Ottman: The
new rules of Green Marketing
Copyright © NNFCC 2014.

19. Green Premium? – Price vs value
Business to Business
Business to Consumer
Coca Cola Executive: “If Coca-Cola were to lose all of its
production-related assets in a disaster, the company would
survive. By contrast, if all consumers were to have a sudden
lapse of memory and forget everything related to Coca-Cola,
the company would go out of business.”
Copyright © NNFCC 2014.

20. Polyethylene Terephthalate
Copyright © NNFCC 2014.
18 million tonnes
Fibre
42 million tonnes
Film
PET
Bottles
5 million tonnes

21. PET - the other half?
•
•
•
Accessible via isobutanol (Gevo or Butamax) or dimethyl furan (UOP)
Alternative routes through biomass fast pyrolysis (Anellotech) or catalytic
reforming (Virent) and via muconic acid (Amyris, Genomatica)
Avantium developing PEF polymers
OH
O
O
Copyright © NNFCC 2014.

22. Bio-based materials – Novel or drop in?
Strengths
Weaknesses
Opportunities
Threats
• Drop in – known targets and downstream products
• Novel – exploits attributes of biomass or biological
processing
• Drop in – number of unit operations required
• Novel – requirement for product development
• Drop in - rapid route to market through existing
infrastructure and know how
• Novel – provides new or improved functionality
• Drop in – production never achieves cost
competitiveness
• Novel – immature supply chain and market
awareness
Copyright © NNFCC 2014.
© NNFCC

23. Biobased plastics face technical hurdles
“Snack Attack: Chip Eaters Make Noise About a
Crunchy Bag.” The Wall Street Journal Aug. 18,
2010.
Marketing slogan "Yes, the bag is loud, that's
what change sounds like."
Lego investigating
biobased plastic but it
must meet stringent
quality requirements.
The LEGO® Movie
Copyright © NNFCC 2014.

24. Feedstock choice & Value Chain Acceptance
Land use and food vs fuel concerns
must be considered.
However the biobased products are
differentiated from biofuels &
bioenergy.
e.g. scale, alternatives
CO2 capture
and use
Hierarchy of
brand owner
preferences
By-products,
residues &
wastes
Biomass Crops & Forestry
Food crops
WWF Biobased Panda
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25. % of available land
Bioplastic Land Use Scenarios (2030)
50
40
30
Chemical driven
20
Biofuel stalled
10
Biofuel driven
0
Bioeconomy
Polymer demand – 428 million tonnes
Land availability – 250-800 million ha (Source FAO)
Copyright © NNFCC 2014.

26. Ensuring sustainable development
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27. Cellulosic ethanol – First steps in industrial sugar fermentation
Beta Renewables Crescentino plant commercial-scale
cellulosic ethanol plant, in Crescentino Italy, started
operations in Q4, 2012. Capacity 40,000 tons of per year
POET-DSM Advanced Biofuels’ first commercial cellulosic
bio-ethanol plant is on schedule to start up June 2014.
Initial capacity 20 million gallons (~60,000 tonne per year)
DuPont's commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol facility in
Nevada, Iowa. Once fully operational, the facility will
produce 30 million gallons (~90,000 tonne per year)
Copyright © NNFCC 2014.

28. Industrial Sugar – Next Steps
M&G Chemicals launches green revolution in the polyester chain
Shanghai – 18 November 2013
M&G Chemicals announces today its decision to construct a second-generation biorefinery in the region of Fuyang, Anhui Province of China for the conversion of one
million metric tons of biomass into bio-ethanol and bio-glycols.
Increasing number of Industrial sugar platforms ready for
commercialisation
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29. Biorefineries
The opportunity
to develop
integrated
chemical
complexes
Source IEA Bioenergy Task 42, NNFCC
Copyright © NNFCC 2014.

30. Building a UK ecosystem in Industrial biotechnology
Industrial Biotechnology Leadership Forum
UK Plc becomes a leading centre of competence in fine
and specialty chemicals
Increased uptake of biocatalysis and fermentation in
the existing UK chemical industry
UK becomes a top three producers of high value
chemicals in plants
UK becomes a leading centre of know-how in
producing commodity and intermediate chemicals
through biocatalysis and fermentation
Source: AD Little Roadmap
Copyright © NNFCC 2014.

31. UK economic growth based
on key Industrial Innovation
Eight Great Technologies
Bioeconomy Innovation
• Agri-Science
• Synthetic Biology
• Advanced Materials
Copyright © NNFCC 2014.

32. A global leader in Synthetic
Biology
Synthetic Biology Leadership Council
Over £60 million for synthetic biology
• £1 million synthetic yeast genome.
• £10 million for multi-partner Innovation
and Knowledge Centre (IKC).
• £20 million for multidisciplinary research
centres.
• £10 million for a synthetic biology seed
fund.
• £18 million for DNA synthesis.
• £2 million to support training
Copyright © NNFCC 2014.

33. Biorefining
BBSRC
IB & Bioenergy
Networks
Structural Biol and Biocat.
Biocatalyst
Discovery
Systems and
Synthetic Biology
Integrated
Technologies
Agri-Food Chain
Anaerobic
Digestion
Novel Chassis
Gas
Fermentation
Microalgae
Biopharma
Bioprocessing
Copyright © NNFCC 2014.
Natural Products
Microbial
Metabolites
Plant
Metabolites
Cross Cutting
Glycoscience
Metals in
Biology
Membrane
Transport

34. Multi-funder collaboration
providing £45million in
2014/15
Translation of research on
biological processes into
industrial processes.
Enable the manufacturing of
new products or improve
manufacturing of existing
products.
http://www.bbsrc.ac.uk/business/collaborative-research/tsb-competitions/ibcatalyst.aspx
Copyright © NNFCC 2014.

35. 5 Funding streams
•
Early stage: Translation - Academic-led experimental work that builds on existing
discoveries.
•
Early stage: Feasibility studies – Academic or business led projects to explore the
commercial potential of an early-stage scientific idea through feasibility studies.
•
Industrial Research – Business led projects building on recent discoveries to develop
new technologies or processes.
•
Late stage: Pre-experimental feasibility studies – Business led projects to test
proven processes at a greater scale of operation or with commercially equivalent
equipment for the first time.
•
Late stage: Experimental development – Business led projects to demonstrate that
performance seen previously is repeatable during extended testing at a commercial
scale.
Copyright © NNFCC 2014.

36. Process demonstration and scale up
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37. Copyright © NNFCC 2014.

38. Copyright © NNFCC 2014.

39. Bio Base NWE is a three-year project (2013-2015)
by the European Commission to support the
development of the bio-based economy in North
West Europe (NWE ).
The €6.2 million project will help entrepreneurs
and companies to facilitate innovation and
business development in bio-based technologies.
Copyright © NNFCC 2014.

40. Scope
1. A network, linking bio-based economy experts, advising on how to develop new
ideas into marketable products, from the first feasibility study or market analysis
up to funding and investment scenario’s.
2. Innovation coupons for SME’s to perform proof-of concept studies and/or to
demonstrate innovative bio-based technologies at Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant, an
independent, state of the-art demonstration facility in Ghent, Belgium
(technology feasibility, cost-assessment or barrier analysis).
3. Programs and tools for training and education to help tackle the shortage of
skilled professionals in North West Europe’s bio-based industries.
Copyright © NNFCC 2014.

41. Summary
Feedstock
pricing &
volatility
The bioeconomy will create
sustainable business opportunities for
feedstock suppliers, technology and
project developers, manufacturers
and investors.
Bio
economy
The UK has the research base to
capitalise on these opportunities.
Technology
Support (funding & facilities) for
technology development is in place.
The UK needs to demonstrate
innovation capacity through
technology commercialisation.
Copyright © NNFCC 2014.
Environmental
considerations
Development
(performance
& cost)

42. More information
• IB Catalyst
• Bio Base NWE
• NNFCC services
Email: a.higson@nnfcc.co.uk
@biobasedchem
Copyright © NNFCC 2014.

43. Celebrating 10 years of Bioeconomy
development
NNFCC is a UK based consultancy with
expertise on the conversion of biomass
to bioenergy, biofuels and biobased
products.
We help industry solve complex
business challenges and provide vital
evidence for policy makers.
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