Report: biobased chemicals industry reaches tipping point

Biorefining Magazine
By Erin Voegele December 15, 2011

A report recently completed by Lux Research found that the biobased chemicals and materials industry has reached a tipping point, with capacity expected to double in market potential to $19.7 billion in 2016 as global manufacturing capacity increases by 140 percent. According to the report, titled “Global Bio-based Chemical Capacity Springs to Scale,” the global capacity for 17 major biobased materials doubled to 3.8 million tons this year. Over the next five years, capacity is expected to climb to 9.2 million tons.

“Several strong forces—consumer preference, corporate commitment, and government mandates and support—are driving development in this space,” said Kalib Kersh, Lux Research analyst and lead author of the report. “For an industry with the scale of plastics, polymers and chemicals, no business issue is as big as that of capacity. For biobased alternatives to compete with petroleum, they have to match billion-dollar businesses producing at megaton levels.”

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