It's hard to play the important role in the replacement of bio d materials
Since this year, with the continuous breakthroughs in the research and development of global bio d materials technology, the enthusiasm for investment in this field has been rekindled around the world. Some insiders pointed out that although the bio d materials industry began to move from laboratory to market, it is still unknown whether it can break through the bottleneck of growth period and play an important role in the chemical industry.
In recent years, some chemical giants have frequently invested in building bio d materials projects. It is understood that the 100000 t / a bio d epichlorohydrin unit located in matafu, Thailand, which is a subsidiary of Sunway company of Belgium, has recently started trial operation. The project uses Refined Glycerin, a by-product of vegetable oil refining biofuels, as raw material. Avantium in the Netherlands and Danone in France are working together to develop and use renewable materials to produce polyethylene high foam thermos bottles, which will be used in Danone's Global Bottled water business. Other products include bio d polymers such as polylactic acid, polyethylene and polyethylene terephthalate, as well as some bio process chemicals such as butanediol, acrylic acid, adipic acid and succinic acid.
The progress of various investment demands and commercialization has promoted scientific and technological innovation in the field of bio d materials and chemicals, thus opening a breakthrough for financing and market access. However, some industry insiders believe that this does not mean that the bio d materials and chemicals industry has achieved long-term success, either in terms of cost or in terms of broader green environmental value.
"There is no doubt that over a period of time, the consumer demand for bio d chemicals will exceed the supply," said Ronnie bum, President of the Netherlands bio renewable business platform. He pointed out that some companies will take the lead in introducing biodegradable packaging materials, and other companies will choose to enter this field only when the market is mature and stable due to cost considerations. Therefore, the recent production of bio d materials can not fully meet the potential market growth. This situation can make the bio d materials maintain a stable high price in the market.
The problem of raw material supply and logistics has always been the bottleneck of the development of bio d chemicals industry. In general, the production of bio d materials in sugarcane, palm oil and corn plantations, especially in Brazil, parts of Asia and North America, does not need to consider too much about logistics. However, in Europe and other regions, raw materials are relatively scattered, in this case, it is very difficult to transport a large number of low-density biomass. At present, the production scale of the demonstration project in tens of thousands of tons / year is not too difficult in service. Once the production scale reaches hundreds of thousands of tons / year of commercialization, the challenges in procurement and logistics will not be ignored.
Alain brujink, an expert in technology and sustainable development, said that due to difficulties in procurement and logistics, in Europe, even if governments use bio d materials as substitutes for petrochemical raw materials and are ambitious to expand in this field, the use of such materials is unlikely to be too large. Only when the procurement and logistics problems are solved, can bio d materials play an important role.