Review
Industrial biotechnology for the production of bio-based chemicals – a cradle-to-grave perspective

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Shifting the resource base for chemical production from fossil feedstocks to renewable raw materials provides exciting possibilities for the use of industrial biotechnology-based process tools. This review gives an indication of the current developments in the transition to bio-based production, with a focus on the production of chemicals, and points out some of the challenges that exist in the large-scale implementation of industrial biotechnology. Furthermore, the importance of evaluating the environmental impact of bio-based products with respect to their entire life cycle is highlighted, demonstrating that the choice of the raw material often turns out to be an important parameter influencing the life cycle performance.

Introduction

Chemistry has had, and continues to have, a fundamental role in almost every aspect of modern society. Despite providing us with a vast array of useful products, the chemical industry has been subjected to close scrutiny owing to concerns about its reliance on fossil resources, its environmentally damaging production processes, and the production of toxic by-products, waste and products that are not readily recyclable or degradable after their useful life. The industry has come under increasing pressure to make chemical production more eco-friendly. Governments across the globe are increasing the fines levied for pollution, the costs of waste disposal, and penal taxation for the storage of large quantities of dangerous chemicals. In the EU, new chemical legislations are being introduced, to improve the levels of protection of human health and the environment from chemical risks. For example, the recently proposed REACH (registration, evaluation and authorization of chemicals; http://ec.europa.eu/environment/chemicals/reach/reach_intro.htm) regulatory framework demands registration and safety testing of all produced or imported chemicals. A more product- or sector-related legislation, such as the Restriction on Hazardous Substances (RoHS) [1], prohibits or severely restricts the use of most dangerous chemicals in electronic and electrical equipment. The sustainability of the chemical industry thus calls for a business strategy that integrates social, safety, health and environmental benefits with the technological and economic objectives of its activities.

The concept of ‘green chemistry’ was introduced in the early 1990s by the US Environmental Protection Agency (http://www.epa.gov/), in order ‘to promote chemical technologies that reduce or eliminate the use or generation of hazardous substances in the design, manufacture and use of chemical products’. Its guiding rule is prevention rather than cure. Green chemistry is currently associated with the 12 principles formulated by Paul Anastas and John Warner [2], which advocate a decrease in the environmental impact of a chemical product by considering aspects of its entire life cycle – from raw material to product use and fate. Examples of these are using renewable feedstocks, selective catalysts and alternative, non-toxic solvents; high atom efficiency; minimizing risks, waste generation and energy consumption; and design of safer and biodegradable chemicals. These principles have since been supplemented by the 12 principles of green engineering, which provide a structure to create and assess the elements of design relevant to maximizing sustainability [3].

In view of the above, this review highlights the current trend towards the bio-based production of chemicals and the potential of industrial biotechnology to provide the process tools to achieve this. Furthermore, it stresses the need for evaluation of the environmental impact of the products from a life cycle perspective. We have chosen to mention only briefly the production of biofuels because this is already extensively dealt with in several reports; however, it should be understood that the two sectors are closely related and can also be synergistic.

Section snippets

A shift from fossil to bio-based raw material

Currently, the products made from bio-based raw materials represent only a minor fraction of the output of the chemical industry. The efforts to shift the prime resource base of the industry from non-renewable to renewable feedstocks have recently gained momentum, primarily because of the rapid rise in the costs of mineral oil and an increasing concern about the depletion of these resources in the near future. The world production of plant biomass is vast and is more than enough to match the

Industrial biotechnology – linking green chemistry and bio-based production

Biotechnology has attracted a great deal of attention as a potentially important tool in facilitating the paradigm shift from fossil to bio-based production, as illustrated in Figure 1. Industrial biotechnology, also known as ‘white biotechnology’ in Europe, relies on the use of whole cells or enzymes as catalysts, and such processes are already used for the manufacture of several commodity and speciality chemicals [8]. Biocatalysis has more commonly been directed towards the production of

A cradle-to-grave perspective for sustainable production

Although industrial biotechnology is intuitively associated with cleaner chemistry and cleaner industrial processes, in most cases these benefits have not been comparatively weighted against the overall inventory of materials and energy required to generate a given product. Hence, when switching from fossil feedstocks and chemical production processes to renewable feedstocks processed with biotechnological methods the assessment of the environmental and economic benefits provided by the process

Conclusion

The chemical industry is facing its second paradigm shift since the start of the petrochemistry industry: this time from petrochemistry to bio-based production. The main focus, so far, has been in developing the biofuel market, which is, in effect, driven by various policy incentives at different levels, for example, the carbon dioxide emission trading system induced by the Kyoto protocol, policy objectives concerning energy security, stimulation of renewable transportation fuels at an EU

Acknowledgements

The financial support from the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Environmental Research (MISTRA) is gratefully acknowledged. The authors would like to thank Bo Mattiasson, Erik Andersson and Anna Petersson for their valuable help during the preparation of the manuscript.

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