The Biorefinery Project of the Future – Part 3 of 10 – adding renewable chemicals production

Biofuels Digest
September 24, 2010 Jim Lane

If we have learned anything from the stories of hot companies like Amyris, LS9, Gevo, Solazyme, ZeaChem, Algenol, or Cobalt Technologies, as well as exciting pure-plays like Segetis, Elevance, GlycosBio or Rivertop Renewables, it is the importance of producing chemicals or other bio-based materials first to generate revenues, before taking the company further down the cost curve and up in scale in order to make competitively-priced renewable fuels.

Not every company is going down this route. Among the most prominent of the pure-play fuel companies are groups like Sapphire Energy and Butamax, while companies such as POET have developed strong markets in bio-based products such as their Dakota Gold distillers grains without yet venturing into exotic plastics or chemicals.

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