THE LAST WORD
By John Kelly
CONQUERING THE LIFE SCIENCES CHEMISTRY DIVIDE
John Kelly Vice President, Erie Innovation and Commercialization
Over the past several years there has been a concerted effort to try to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. The most visible impact has been the growth of the bioethanol market in North America, with more than 220 plants operating in the U.S. (most found in the corn belt) and Canada. These plants, and associated government policies, have made a direct impact on the consumer. One of the objectives of these plants is to increase our domestic supply of fuel, and in this case, renewable fuels. What is less visible is the impact that the life sciences are having on the production of commonly used chemicals. Many organic chemicals are derived from petroleum-based sources, either from North American sources like oil from the tar sands of Alberta and natural gas deposits such as those found in Pennsylvania, or imported from less politically stable global jurisdictions. These chemicals are being produced from finite, geochemical sources that are based upon “old” carbon, i.e. carbon which has been in the ground for millions of years. The chemical industry in Canada is big business. Among the leaders in this sector are multinational companies like Dow and E.I. Du Pont, who have a long history of creating synthetic chemistry from hydrocarbon sources. These companies, and others, have recognized that the basis of their product is carbon, and that this carbon can come from a variety of sources. Since the days of inexpensive petrochemicals appear behind us, companies are looking for novel sources of renewable carbon to fuel their industry. This is where agriculture and forestry have a strong role to play. There are also new players in the market who are taking advantage of the bio-chemistry wave. Lanxess, a German manufacturer of plastics, rubber and specialty chemicals based in Sarnia, ON, is increasing its reliance on bio-based polymers. They are a major producer of butyl rubber, which is the material of choice for such products as closures in injection vials and blood collection tubes. Lanxess has created a partnership with Gevo, a US-based renewable chemicals company, in an effort to produce premium synthetic rubber from bio-based raw materials. Gevo is currently developing a fermentation process to produce isobutanol from the fermentable sugars in biomass.
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This isobutanol is then dehydrated to isobutene, required for the production of butyl rubber. Increasingly, the development of eco-friendly chemicals has been a driver. BioAmber, a Montréal-based company, in partnership with Mitsui, is building a global scale bio-succinic acid plant, also in Sarnia. They have positioned themselves by using agricultural feedstocks to have a negative carbon footprint and true petrochemical substitute. They will produce many 100 per cent bio-based products including butanediol, tetrahydrofuran and gamma-butyrolactone. These are not your everyday, traditional life sciences products! Burlington, ON based EcoSynthetix has created a novel biolatex, which is positioned as a complete replacement for petroleum based emulsion polymers with equal or superior performance. Their Ecosphere® renewable biolatex binders are made from starches derived from Ontario based crops like potatoes and corn. The large multinationals have not ignored this space. Indeed, E.I. Du Pont launched Sorona® in 2002 and has joined forces with another global giant Tate & Lyle to create bio-products from corn sugars. DuPont works on joint partnerships with BioAmber, as does Cargill. These products from agricultural and forestry based life sciences go into every day use, whether they are plastics from polylactic acid (PLA) from corn, co-polymers for the auto sector based on wheat straw, inks and paints from starch sources, or long fibres used in carpeting. And these companies see a significant financial and environmental upside to these bio-based compounds. Indeed, the divide between life sciences and industrial chemicals is rapidly decreasing. John Kelly is currently a director for Life Sciences Ontario and the VP for Erie Innovation and Commercialization
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