Biorefineries built on the biochemical conversion platform can take advantage of their fermentative capacity to produce various organic acids, which can then be reacted with ethanol to make a number of different higher-valued ester compounds.
In the past, cheap oil spurred the development of petroleum-based consumer products such as plastics. Today high oil prices are driving research and development away from fossil fuel-based processes to those using renewable feedstocks. The markets for these new bioproducts are growing and companies such as Massachusetts-based Metabolix Inc. are cashing in by engineering bioenergy crops that also serve as factories for bioplastics.
By Ryan C. Christiansen
January 01, 1970
January 01, 1970
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