4 Are Ionic Liquids Enabling Technology? Startup to Scale-Up …
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towards bio-based substituents to reduce our dependence on petroleum. A biorefinery, however, is based on the idea that biomass needs to be “de-functionalized” at
the cost of chemicals and energy to be made into the basic building blocks found in
petroleum.
Oftentimes, these basic bio-based building blocks are utilized in polymer synthesis, and the resultant chemicals are also named “biopolymers”. For instance, polylactic acid (PLA) is known as a biopolymer even though it is a polyester derived from
renewably-sourced lactic acid. In this regard, the concept of using bio-based chemicals as precursors for polymer manufacturing is confusing, since often the same
non-degradable plastic is produced, regardless of whether this plastic is oil-based
or plant-based. The life cycle of a plastic product is more important than its origin.
For example, recently, Coca-Cola advertised its new beverage container or “plantbottle” [8] made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), produced by condensation
of bio-based monoethylene glycol with terephthalic acid. Laboratory experiments
studying PET degradation predicted a life expectancy between 27 [9] and 93 [10]
years, regardless of the starting material used for manufacture.
When we talk about biopolymers in the following chapter, we mean polymers isolated from naturally occurring biomass “as nature made them” [11], such as polysaccharides (e.g., cellulose, chitin, hemicellulose), proteins (e.g., spider silk), plants
polyesters (e.g., lignin), and so forth, and not the ones produced from bio-based
chemicals. These biopolymers are viewed not as a replacement for petroleum, but as
a source of valuable chemicals and materials that cannot be obtained from petroleum.
Instead of chemically modifying polymers obtained from nature and making synthetic analogs, we need to figure out how to take full advantage of what nature does
so well.
4.1.3 Research and Development to Commercialization
Constraints: Need of Economy of Scale
Research and development in the field of biopolymers is primarily small in scale
and academic in nature. While renewable, biodegradable replacements for plastics
are being actively developed, they have come nowhere close to completely replacing
plastics. Plastics enjoy technological maturity and an entrenched economy of scale
that have kept new technologies from competing with them.
Economic barriers include poor predictions for short-term profits, undefined
demand in the marketplace because of prevailing inexpensive alternatives (synthetic
polymers), and, most importantly, a lack of supply in needed volume. Plastics rose
to dominance through the availability of cheap oil as a feedstock and open markets
for its products, and for any replacement to be successful, those two factors must be
addressed. Because biopolymers will undeniably be more expensive than synthetic
analogs, much work will be required to lower the costs. Even if some biopolymers are
shown to have advantageous properties when compared to conventional polymers,
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towards bio-based substituents to reduce our dependence on petroleum. A biorefinery, however, is based on the idea that biomass needs to be “de-functionalized” at
the cost of chemicals and energy to be made into the basic building blocks found in
petroleum.
Oftentimes, these basic bio-based building blocks are utilized in polymer synthesis, and the resultant chemicals are also named “biopolymers”. For instance, polylactic acid (PLA) is known as a biopolymer even though it is a polyester derived from
renewably-sourced lactic acid. In this regard, the concept of using bio-based chemicals as precursors for polymer manufacturing is confusing, since often the same
non-degradable plastic is produced, regardless of whether this plastic is oil-based
or plant-based. The life cycle of a plastic product is more important than its origin.
For example, recently, Coca-Cola advertised its new beverage container or “plantbottle” [8] made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), produced by condensation
of bio-based monoethylene glycol with terephthalic acid. Laboratory experiments
studying PET degradation predicted a life expectancy between 27 [9] and 93 [10]
years, regardless of the starting material used for manufacture.
When we talk about biopolymers in the following chapter, we mean polymers isolated from naturally occurring biomass “as nature made them” [11], such as polysaccharides (e.g., cellulose, chitin, hemicellulose), proteins (e.g., spider silk), plants
polyesters (e.g., lignin), and so forth, and not the ones produced from bio-based
chemicals. These biopolymers are viewed not as a replacement for petroleum, but as
a source of valuable chemicals and materials that cannot be obtained from petroleum.
Instead of chemically modifying polymers obtained from nature and making synthetic analogs, we need to figure out how to take full advantage of what nature does
so well.
4.1.3 Research and Development to Commercialization
Constraints: Need of Economy of Scale
Research and development in the field of biopolymers is primarily small in scale
and academic in nature. While renewable, biodegradable replacements for plastics
are being actively developed, they have come nowhere close to completely replacing
plastics. Plastics enjoy technological maturity and an entrenched economy of scale
that have kept new technologies from competing with them.
Economic barriers include poor predictions for short-term profits, undefined
demand in the marketplace because of prevailing inexpensive alternatives (synthetic
polymers), and, most importantly, a lack of supply in needed volume. Plastics rose
to dominance through the availability of cheap oil as a feedstock and open markets
for its products, and for any replacement to be successful, those two factors must be
addressed. Because biopolymers will undeniably be more expensive than synthetic
analogs, much work will be required to lower the costs. Even if some biopolymers are
shown to have advantageous properties when compared to conventional polymers,