September 2011 Archives

For those following my tweets, you probably know already about my recent interview with DSM about their bio-adipic acid strategies now published on ICIS News (subscription required). I am also planning to do a more comprehensive article about the interview as well as about bio-adipic acid developments for ICIS Chemical Business with publication date on October 10. For those who are not subscribers, maybe it's time to subscribe now =P.

But for the blog readers, I will tell a bit about the DSM news next week. In the meantime, here are some big news on the biofuels front. I will have a separate post about Renmatix next week.

Codexis and Brazil-based Raizen Energia have signed a development deal to improved first generation ethanol process such as yeast performance. The companies will use Codexis' CodeEvolver™ directed evolution technology platform to improve Raizen's current process for producing ethanol made from sugar. Raizen produced 600 million gallons of ethanol in 2010.

Zeachem has been awarded part of a $40 million grant by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for the commercialization of advanced "drop-in" biofuels as part of the Northwest Advanced Renewables Alliance consortium. ZeaChem will lead R&D and demonstration trials for production of bio-based jet and diesel fuels and bio-based gasoline at its 250,000 gal/year integrated demo biorefinery in Boardman, Oregon. The first volumes of bio-based jet and diesel fuels will be produced in test quantities in 2013 and bio-based gasoline will follow in 2015.

Gevo has been awarded a $600,000 contract by the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) to supply up to 11,000 gallons of 'alcohol-to-jet' (ATJ) based jet fuel to the U.S. Air Force (USAF). The ATJ fuel will be produced from isobutanol at Gevo's demonstration plant in Silsbee, Texas, in partnership with South Hampton Resources. The company plans to begin shipping product to the USAF in the first quarter of 2012.

Gevo received a $5m grant from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) for the development of biojet fuel from woody biomass and forest product residues. The award is a portion of a $40 million grant presented to the Northwest Advanced Renewables Alliance (NARA), a consortium led by Washington State University (WSU). The WSU-led project is one of two five-year, $40m grants from the USDA. The University of Washington received the other $40 million grant.

LanzaTech, Shougang JV on waste-based ethanol
New Zealand-based LanzaTech has signed a joint venture deal with Shougang (Capital Steel), the 4th largest steel manufacturer in China for the construction of a demonstration facility in Capital Steel's mill outside of Beijin and eventually a commercial facility. LanzaTech will use its gas-liquid fermentation technology to produce ethanol from Shougang's existing carbon monoxide streams at the mill.

Weyerhauser is participating in the portion of the Northwest Advanced Renewables Alliance consortium led by Washington State University to study the feasibility of producing jet biofuel from woody feedstocks in the Pacific Northwest. Weyerhaeuser will establish a research site near Springfield, Ore. to better understand the effect of forest management practices on soil, water and wildlife. Weyerhaeuser also will work with collaborators to understand how to develop more cost-effective ways to collect currently under-utilized harvest residuals for emerging bio-fuel and bio-product applications. Honeywell's Envergent Technologies has demonstrated production of liquid biofuel from biomass in industrial burners by Oilon Group, a leading European burner manufacturer. Envergent's RTP technology converts biomass, including forest and agricultural residues into a carbon-neutral liquid biofuel that can be burned to generate heat or electricity or further upgraded to other fuels.

Chemtex has entered a deal with Colombiana de Biocombustibles Celulósicos ("COLBIOCEL") for the supply of a license and associated engineering and technical services for an 85,000 tonne/year cellulosic ethanol plant using Chemtex's PROESA™ Process.  The project will be implemented in Chitaraque, Colombia using sugarcane bagasse as the feedstock.

BP fully acquires Tropical Bioenergia
BP has acquired the remaining 50% stake of Tropical BioEnergia SA from its current joint venture partners Maeda SA Agroindustrial and LDC-SEV Bioenergia for a total cash of $71m. BP intends to double the size of Tropical BioEnergia's operations to 5m tonnes/year of crush cane or 450m liters/year of ethanol equivalent.

Waste-based biofuel producer Fulcrum BioEnergy has filed a registration statement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission seeking to raise $115m for a proposed initial public offering (IPO) of its common stock . UBS Securities LLC will be acting as the book-running manager for the offering.

AliphaJet has developed and successfully demonstrated a cost-effective catalytic method for making jet biofuel from plant and animal triglycerides and/or fatty acids. AliphaJet's BoxCar™ catalytic de-oxygenation process reportedly significantly reduces capital and operating costs because it does not require hydrogen to remove the oxygen from the feedstocks.

Constellation Energy and Chromatin, a supplier of biomass feedstock for energy producers, have signed a memorandum of understanding to supply Constellation Energy's two California power plants - Rio Bravo Poso and Rio Bravo Fresno - with biomass sorghum as fuel to generate electricity. Chromatin expects to deliver the first shipments of processed sorghum biomass to the Rio Bravo plants in a few weeks.

The blog apologizes for the lack of weekly news roundup in the past two weeks. Unfortunately, the blog is at the second-bottom of the chain between my day job at the magazine and night work at school. My friends and family will tell you my personal life is at the very bottom (violin starts playing now...)

I just finished my article on Japanese chemical companies and their renewable chemical strategies (this was really a tough one but thanks to Lux Research and Jim Lunt for providing some input, and Mitsubishi Chemical, Mitsui and Teijin for participating). The article is going to be published on October 24.

In the meantime, there were a lot (and I mean a lot!) of press announcements that came out this week. We will post a separate one on biofuels as well as about this new company called Renmatix, which had a press meeting and live webcast held in Pennsylvania on Tuesday.

For now, here are our latest news roundup:

UK-based bioplastic producer Plaxica has raised £5m ($7.8m) in equity funding from Imperial Innovations, Invesco Perpetual and NESTA Investments. Plaxica is said to be developing next generation polylactic acid (PLA) polymers and platform chemicals.

Siluria raises $20m financing
Siluria raised $20m for its series B financing led by UK-based Wellcome Trust and joining Siluria investors Alloy Ventures, ARCH Venture Parners, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Altitude Life Science Ventures, Lux Capital and Presidio Ventures. Siluria uses waste methane gas as feedstock to produce fuels and chemicals.

Germany based bioplastic compounder FKuR and Brazil-based chemical firm Braskem have signed a compounding agreement for Braskem's sugar-based polyethylene (PE) plastic BioPE. The partnership will result in the first tailor-made green PE compounds available in Europe.

Waste-to-biofuels and chemicals company Enerkem has entered an offtake deal with Methanex for the sale of methanol to be produced at Enerkem's facility in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Enerkem's subsidiary Enerkem Alberta Biofuels will produce the methanol as well as cellulosic ethanol at its 10m gal/year plant in Edmonton scheduled to start in 2012.

Electrochaea launches methane subsidiary
US-based Electrochaea LLC has launched a subsidiary in Denmark where it plans to test its waste carbon dioxide-based energy technology with European energy company E.ON, Denmark's University of Aarhus and energy trading firm Nordjysk Elhandel. Electrochaea;s technology uses waste CO2 and convert it into methane. Testing is expected to take 12-18 months. If successful, the first commercial facility will be in operation within the next 3 years in Denmark.

OriginOil partners with US DOE
Algae developer OriginOil is working with the US Department of Energys Idaho National Laboratory to develop standards for converting biomass including algae into biofuels and other products. The collaboration will include how algae can add energy content to other feedstocks such as woody and herbaceous materials for energy production. OriginOil said using the whole algae feedstock with its lipid still in the cell is more energy-efficient than focusing on harvesting its oil products for drop-in biofuels.

Algae scale-up bioreactors available
BioVantage Resources announced the availability of algae scale-up bioreactors to reduce time to commercialization, facilitating small-to-large volume production of phototrophic cultures. The units have been designed to enable repeatable, reliable production of high-quality algae even at commercial scales.

The development of new shale gas plays in the US will not weaken Coca-Cola's commitment to bio-based packaging, a representative from Coca-Cola said who spoke at the 2011 Pack Expo in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Dutch paints and coatings producer AkzoNobel plans to adopt more bio-based feedstocks, part of a larger strategy to improve its sustainability record.

ECO Plastics has started building a new recycling facility at Hemswell in the UK as part of its joint venture with Coca-Cola.

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) declared trichloroethylene (TCE) "carcinogenic to humans."

Okay, let's start with this one after numerous "green chemical-related" press releases (and webcasts) came out and still coming out this week - at a critical time when I'm chained to deadlines for ICIS Chemical Business (ICB)...such is life.  

Amyris is on fire as usual with various collaboration announcement but this one to me is big news in the industrial commodity chemicals sector especially if a well-known rubber tire manufacturer such as Europe-based Michelin is involved.  

The companies said they are working to develop the use of Amyris' farnesene-based isoprene (under the trademark No Compromise^®) for the production of renewable-based rubber tires and other rubber-based products such as adhesives, coatings and sealants. Both companies will contribute funding and technical resources although no financial details were disclosed.

Amyris expects to to begin commercialization of the bio-isoprene to other customers in 2015, while Michelin is reportedly committing off-take volumes on a ten years basis.

Amyris also announced in August its collaboration with Japanese chemical firm Kuraray to develop high-performance polymers by replacing petroleum-based butadiene and isoprene feedstock with Amyris' farnesene molecule.

New sources of isoprene as well as other rubber materials such as butadiene are becoming critical as according to our ICIS colleagues who cover the rubber chemicals industry, the trend towards cracking lighter feedstocks with the advent of North American shale gas is limiting production of these chemicals. Isoprene has traditionally been produced as a byproduct of the thermal cracking of naptha to produce ethylene or via C4 refinery stream synthesis.

Going back to a bio-rubber chemicals article I wrote for ICB in July (it's free access!), I noted back then some of the developers within the bio-isoprene area such as Goodyear in partnership Genencor (now owned by DuPont), and GlycosBio's glycerin-based isoprene. 

The blog has not yet heard any recent updates from Genencor/Goodyear on their bio-isoprene. Genencor initially said early this year that the company is exploring a pilot bio-isoprene plant that could be built next year in Iowa.

GlycosBio, meanwhile, has been busy in Malaysia collaborating with Bio-XCell to construct GlycosBio's first commercial plant within Bio-XCell's industrial park.GlycosBio expects construction of its plant to start in the fourth quarter this year with completion in Q4 2012.

Other recent biobased rubber chemicals development announcements include:

• Lanxess' planned bio-EPDM (ethylene-propylene-diene) monomer production in Brazil as well as the company's collaboration progress with Gevo on bio-isobutene;

• Genomatica's milestone in producing pound quantities of bio-butadiene

• France-based Global Bioenergies' partnership with Polish rubber manufacturer Synthos to develop a new process for renewable-based butadiene

• Elevance's collaboration with Hutchinson Worldwide to evaluate the use of renewable products as processing aids in Hutchinson's rubber compounds;

• Ford has teamed up with Recycled Polymeric Materials (RPM) for the use of gaskets and seals made from 25% post-consumer particulate from recycled tires and 17% soybean-based materials on Ford's 2011 model vehicles such as F-150, Escape, Mustang, Focus and Fiesta.

 

A busy IPO (initial public offering) season this year as Illinois, US-based Elevance Renewable Sciences joined the ranks of Myriant, Genomatica, Gevo, Amyris, Solazyme, Codexis and Metabolix.

The company submitted its S-1 form to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) late Sept. 20 noting its intention to raise $100m on the NASDAQ stock exchange under the symbol ERSI. The company incurred a deficit of $188.8m as of June 30 as it continues to invest in R&D, expand manufacturing capacity and build product lines.

A little bit of a background about Elevance, the company was formed in 2007 with $45m funding from US agribusiness Cargill and catalyst technology company Materia. (Correction: Most of the funding came from venture firm TPG while Cargill and Materia essentially contributed their IP, receiving minority shares/ownership in return).

Cargill is currently Elevance's major feedstock supplier (mainly plant-based oils such as palm, soybean and rapeseed oil). Materia supplies its ruthenium catalyst -- which can only be obtained from a limited number of producers in a limited number of geographic sites, according to the filing.

Another risk the company noted is the infringement lawsuit between Materia and Evonik Degussa. If readers recall, Elevance put out a statement in July 2010 settling their own issues about Evonik's metathesis technology. In the S-1 Filing, Elevance said it has licensed certain patents from Evonik regarding specific types of catalysts for olefin metathesis chemical reactions for $300,000 scheduled to expire on December 31, 2012.

Now onto the good parts of the story, Elevance is focusing on both the renewable-based specialty chemicals (surfactants, waxes, petrolatum, lubricants and additives, building blocks for specialty polymers and coatings), and intermediate chemicals (olefins, oleochemicals).

Here are some of their key milestones:

2007-2008:

• Acquired Cargill's NatureWax business and intellectual property developed as part of a collaboration between Cargill and Materia;
  

•  Partnered with Tetramer Technologies, LLC to develop and commercialize renewable specialty chemicals;

• Partnered with Dow Corning to market naturally derived ingredients in personal care applications;

• Opened pilot facility in Illinois, including approximately 7,000 square feet of laboratory space.

2009:

• Established the commercial viability of process

• Completed multiple toll metathesis production runs for personal care and performance waxes business;

• Met universally accepted compost specifications for certain coating applications when blended with paraffin;

• Demonstrated the viability of fuel additive products produced at pilot plant scale;

• Achieved a 50% reduction in catalyst usage in metathesis reaction;

• Filed a provisional patent application for biorefinery process;

• Refined and metathesized drum quantities of mustard, palm and jatropha oils, demonstrating feasibility for biorefinery use.

2010:

• Completed first toll production run involving the conversion of 40,000 pounds of feedstock into specialty chemicals and intermediate chemicals;

• Formed the Wilmar JV to construct world-scale integrated biorefinery;

• Entered into a joint development agreement with Stepan to evaluate and commercialize surfactants, antimicrobials and polyurethane polyols based on specialty feedstocks;

2011:

• Completed a toll production run converting one million pounds (450 metric tonnes) of feedstock into specialty chemicals and intermediate chemicals;

• Acquired an 80m gal/year biodiesel facility in Natchez, Mississippi and commenced engineering to repurpose the facility into a biorefinery;

• Entered an agreement with Clariant and sold commercial quantities of specialty chemicals to Clariant for the production of polymer additives;

• Announced a collaboration with DSM to evaluate unique monomers for production of specialty bio-based high performance thermoplastic materials for DSM's engineering plastics portfolio;

• Filed eight patent applications on lubricant and additive products;

• Refined cold flow product and providing samples to a prospective partner for evaluation;

• Entered into a licensing agreement with XiMo Ltd to use its proprietary molybdenum and tungsten metathesis catalysts in the field of natural oils;

• Announced a collaboration with Hutchinson Worldwide to evaluate the use of renewable products as processing aids in Hutchinson's rubber compounds;

As mentioned earlier, Elevance's technology is based on metathesis catalysis -- a chemical reaction that uses selective, high efficient catalyst (such as ruthenium) that can break down and recombine molecules into new chemicals. The company is looking to produce novel, di-functional molecules like 9-decenoic acid methyl ester and 9-dodecenoic acid methyl ester (among others). I am not a chemist so I'm sure the chemical figures below will make more sense to them how the technology works.

Elevance said their biorefinery produces three main product streams: one for specialty chemicals and two streams of intermediate chemicals - olefins and oleochemicals (specifically alpha and internal olefins, C10 olefin, C16-C18 fatty esters, and di-functional C10-C15 fatty ester building blocks). 

Elevance estimates potential addressable market of $176bn worldwide for its targeted specialty chemicals products. The company estimates total size of the oleochemical market at $38bn in 2010 and intermediate olefin market at $7bn in 2008.

Their key proposition is producing lower-cost renewable-based high value specialty chemicals and direct replacement intermediate chemicals. In the oleochemicals market, Elevance said their process can provide a cost-competitive alternative to imported palm kernel oil and coconut oil (key oleo feedstock coming mostly from southeast Asia) by using locally sourced soy or rapeseed oil in the Americas or Europe.

In the intermediate olefins market, Elevance said for each metric tonne (or pound) of intermediate olefins produced, their process can reduce average conversion cost net of feedstock from $313/tonne (14ct./lb) when using conventional processes to $63/tonne (3ct./lb) without subsidies, mandates or green premiums.

"To produce a similar range of intermediate olefins via conventional technologies would require at least one additional major processing step and would require approximately $2,300/tonne ($1.04/lb) of production capacity if constructed in the United States. This cost is more than six times what we estimate the Mississippi facility will cost to repurpose."

Finally, in terms of operations, Elevance plans to have 3 commercial biorefinery facilities by the end of 2014 with combined annual capacity of 1m tonnes (2.2bn lbs). The 185,000 tonne/year JV facility with Wilmar in Gresik, Indonesia, (expandable to 370,000 tonne./year) is scheduled to start in the second quarter of 2012.

The biodiesel facility in Natchez, Mississippi, US, is currently being repurposed into an integrated 280,000 tonne/year biorefinery which is scheduled to start in the second half of 2013.

"We expect construction of our first two facilities to cost $165-360/tonne (7c.-16c./lb) of annual production capacity compared to $920-2,300/tonne (42c.-$1.04/lb) for conventional facilities. We have established strategic partnerships with market leaders to accelerate the commercialization and rapid deployment of our technology."

Elevance expects to also operate its third biorefinery in South America by the end of 2014. The company is already evaluating sites by having discussions with petrochemical and agricultural processors for potential partnership and offtake opportunities.

By the way, Elevance's Andy Shafer will be presenting at the ICIS Asian Surfactants Conference on November 10-11 in Singapore. The company is commissioning its JV biorefinery in Indonesia at around the same time as the ICIS conference. That might be the only time Elevance can speak about their current strategies given the quiet period during an IPO filing.

I have been working on this week's news roundup when I came across Lanxess' news today about its planned bio-based EPDM (ethylene-propylene-diene) monomer production in Brazil using sugarcane as feedstock for the ethylene component.

Braskem will supply the bio-ethylene via pipeline to Lanxess' EPDM plant in Triunfo, Brazil. Lanxess said this will be the first form of biobased EPDM rubber in the world. According to ICIS, EPDM is the third most-used synthetic rubber after styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) and butadiene rubber.

Interesting news given that the blog has been talking to the Lanxess people two weeks ago on their plans for bio-based butadiene rubber. They said they were looking into it but of course did not specify what companies they are particularly looking at that have bio-BD technologies at work.

You can read more of the Lanxess interview on ICIS Chemical Business' September 18 issue (free article!)

Lanxess said their Triunfo plant produces 40,000 tonnes/year of regular EPDM rubber and it is expected that the first batches of the product "Keltan Eco" will be around several hundred tonnes. EPDM is commonly used in the automotive industry but also in plastics modification, cable and wire, construction and oil additives.

I am not sure how much ethylene is used in average for each ton of EPDM produced but the blog will try to find out. In May this year, Lanxess just acquired DSM's elastomers business in the Netherlands which operates a 160,000 tonne/year EPDM facility at Sittard-Geleen. The Triunfo facility is actually part of the acquired elastomer business as well. Lanxess also produces EPDM in Marl, Germany and Orange Texas, US.

Lanxess said all of the EPDM grades will be sold in the future under the brand name Keltan although I am not sure if all of them will be converted into biobased materials in the future as the company has to think about bio-ethylene suppliers in Europe and US (especially considering feedstock options for bio-ethylene). One thing I can see is that bio-propylene made from sugarcane is another option that Lanxess can use as soon as Braskem can commercially produce them.

By the way, Dow Chemical is also a major EPDM producer with around 110,000 tonne/year capacity in Louisiana, US. As readers might recall, Dow is also working on their own bio-ethylene project in Brazil with Mitsui as its partner. The interesting part is that Mitsui is also an EPDM producer in Japan =).

In an article today from ICIS News, Lanxess said it will benefit from an expected increase in demand for its high-performance rubber products once the tire-labelling law in the Europe takes effect next year. The legislation requires that all tyres be classified based on fuel efficiency, among other parameters.

"Because of the EU tire labelling initiative, the market share of 'green tires' made of high-performance rubber will increase from its present 35% to around 50% of the overall tire market," LANXESS said.

This is an article from ICIS Chemical Business published on May 16 and written by ICIS colleague Brian Balboa. Brian handles the ICIS pricing report on US butanediol (BDO) and he was able to talk to his contacts in the industry about bio-BDO and what they think about its developments.

---------------------------------------------

The debate over bio-BDO is likely to continue for some time yet

One of the biggest questions coming out of the NPRA International Petrochemical Conference (IPC) in March this year was from the butanediol (BDO) market, regarding the emerging bio-BDO sector: "Is bio-BDO for real?" asked a BDO consumer on the sidelines of the IPC.

Although the development of a commercial-scale bio-BDO plant is still in the works, trade participants are still skeptical, and remain interested in how this may impact the market. "Would consumers be willing to pay a premium for bio-BDO?" one major BDO producer asked. A consumer reckoned no-one, "unless there was a directive to go green."

The consumer added if the specifications for a petrochemical-based BDO and a bio-based BDO were similar or equal, then bio-BDO may be a good alternative feedstock source - especially if supply in the market remained tight. But some have said bio-BDO may not necessarily be more expensive than petrochemical-based BDO.

"I don't see that there will be a cost delta between hydrocarbon-based BDO and bio-based BDO," another North American consumer said. "Bio-based producers are approaching the market at par with their competition."

The consumer also said some ­producers are savvier about the demand and opportunity than others, and expects there to be more announcements about that in the coming months.

Market participants have described the current BDO market as globally tight, with strong demand in all regions.

In North America, suppliers said during the first quarter that demand was so strong they declined requests for extra volume outside of contractual obligations. This year, there have been some major announcements about the development of bio-BDO - and its potential impact on the BDO market.

One company at the forefront of this is US biochemical company Genomatica.

Myriant Technologies and Davy Process Technology also announced in February that they signed a memorandum of understanding covering the use of succinic acid as a bio-derived feedstock for the production of BDO, tetrahydrofuran (THF) and gamma-butyrolactone.

On April 28, Genomatica signed a broad memorandum of understanding with Mitsubishi Chemical, outlining multiple potential areas of collaboration.

This includes the study of a joint venture for bio-BDO production in Asia, by building the first commercial plant in the region using the Genomatica's direct, one-step technology and Mitsubishi's BDO applications and business knowledge. 

---------------------------------------

There had been a lot of announcements since this was published in May.

• Metabolix announced its joint development deal for its polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA)-based C4 chemicals -- initially BDO, tetrahydrofuran (THF), gamma butyrolactone (GBL) and polyester engineering resins (PBT) -- with Korea-based industrial biotechnology company CJ CheilJedang.

• Genomatica files for IPO.

• BASF and Purac formed a bio-succinic acid JV and reportedly aiming to be the first commercial bio-succinic acid producer in the market with a 25,000 tons/year capacity that will be located in Purac's site near Barcelona, Spain.

• BioAmber announced new biosuccinic acid and bio-BDO plants in Ontario, Canada, and in Rayong, Thailand.

Consulting firm Nexant is actually working on a study this year to analyze various bio-BDO technologies. The report will provide comparison of the technology, economics and potential markets for bio-BDO.

Just like my recent interview with Japanese firm Mitsubishi Chemical (see ICB article for subscribers), I am hoping to get to know more about Thailand-based PTT Chemical (PTTCH) someday soon given their strategies within the renewable chemicals and bioplastic market.

The other day, Reuters put out a news article about PTTCH looking to buy a US-based polylactic acid (PLA) firm, possibly NatureWorks (who else in the US could it be??).

We will analyze more about this news in another post but first, yesterday, PTTCH's (Update 9/28: This should be PTT Group, which is a separate company from PTTCH. Darn it, I keep forgetting...) PTT Group's joint venture with Mitsubishi Chemical PTTMCC Biochem Company announced that it has chosen BioAmber to exclusively supply PTTMCC with biosuccinic acid for its new 20,000 tonne/year polybutylene succinate (PBS) plant that will be built in Map Ta Phut (Rayong) starting next year.

The biodegradable plastic PBS is made from succinic acid and 1,4 butanediol (BDO). Mitsubishi Chemical currently produces PBS made from petroleum-based succinic acid and BDO in its 3,000 tonne/year pilot plant in Japan. Major applications for PBS are mulch films, packaging films and flushable hygiene products.

By the way, on my MCC interview article, I mentioned that the UK's National Centre for Biorenewable Energy, Fuels and Materials (or NNFCC) estimates current global biosuccinic acid production at 16,000-30,000 tonnes/year. That number actually refers to the total succinic acid market (not just biosuccinic). My apologies to the NNFCC. The group roughly estimates 10% of that number quoted is based from biosuccinic acid.

An industry source meanwhile estimated global PBS and derivatives market is at 100,000-120,000 tonne/year.

The PBS plant in Thailand is expected to come online in 2014. PTTMCC said BioAmber's platform offered the lowest cost biosuccinic acid and the lowest technology risk.  BioAmber plans to build a 65,000 tonne/year succinic acid plant on the Map Ta Phut site and also plans to produce 50,000 tonne/year of bio-BDO on site. The companies did not indicate whether BioAmber will also supply bio-BDO to the PBS plant (I am currently looking for answers to this question).

The blog recalled that Mitsubishi Chemical also has a collaboration deal with bio-BDO producer Genomatica although MCC did not indicate on my interview with them whether Genomatica will be an exclusive BDO supplier to the PBS plant in Thailand.

On the press release, PTTMCC said it will help BioAmber secure feedstock for the plant, which will initially be sugar from cane/tapioca and subsequently biomass sugars. I asked MCC about the logistics and economics of their feedstock in Thailand and MCC said, PTT Group has good partnerships with the Thai government and the agriculture industry in Thailand so they will not have any problems in this area.

Speaking of economics, I just wrote an article about bio-BDO commercialization on ICIS Chemical Business that was published this Monday (link is for subscribers only). I asked BioAmber the economics of their succinic-based BDO.

If readers recall, I also wrote an article (this is free to access!) on March about the bio-BDO development and in one of my interviews, Genomatica noted that direct bio-BDO production is expected to be more cost-effective given that it only involves fermentation and separation processes, and therefore eliminates the need to purify succinic acid for BDO conversion.

According to BioAmber president Jean-Francois Huc, direct bio-BDO production could be more cost-effective compared to succcinic-BDO route if the biosuccinic used is purchased at market prices.

"In our case, we produce purified succinic acid in an aqueous solution -- no evaporation or crystallization -- and directly convert it into BDO and THF (tetrahydrofuran). Our cost for succinic acid is far below the market price. Because we have licensed a liquid phase hydrogenation catalyst from DuPont, we have integrated production of BDO and THF from sugar. As a result, we will produce BDO and THF for less than any fossil fuel route at current feedstock prices." - Huc

Huc also noted that unlike in the case of the Davy vapor phase hydrogenation route to make BDO from succinic acid (source from another producer Myriant), their process does not need to produce an ester. Myriant currently has an agreement with Davy Process Technology to supply biosuccinic acid to Davy's licensees. Come to think of it, PTT Chemical also has a R&D collaboration with Myriant (yes, it's PTTCH not PTT Group that has collaboration deal with Myriant). The world is not that big enough for these renewable chemical companies eh?

Another point BioAmber noted is its Cargill yeast technology, which Huc said has a higher yield on sugar than the theoretical yield of the Genomatica route translating to less sugar consumed per kg of BDO/THF produced.

"Making renewable BDO is one thing but making polymer grade BDO is another. We have proven the purity and cost of our succinic acid via fermentation in a plant that operates at 30x the scale of Genomatica. We have been operating our plant for over 18 months and it has taken us this long to make the necessary changes to our process and hit our quality and cost targets. Genomatica has a lot more development work to prove out their process economics and purity at a scale that can ensure commercial success." - Huc

Hmmm, I wonder what Genomatica will say to that statement? Not that I would want the blog to be a boxing range of sorts but all I can say is the world is still big enough to accommodate all bio-BDO that can be produced, I think.

As a background on the overall BDO market, the petroleum-based BDO volume sold in the merchant market is actually 1/3 of the total produced as most is captively consumed. According to consulting firm Nexant, global demand for BDO is at 1.4m tonnes in 2010.

According to Genomatica's IPO S-1 filing, BDO supply is concentrated with the top 4 global suppliers BASF, Dairen Chemical, LyondellBasell and ISP accounting for 58% of global capacity in 2010. Annual BDO capacity from these four companies total 2.24bn pounds (about 1m tonnes/year) as of July 2010. Invista is the fifth largest producer with 240m lbs/year capacity in North America.

Or is it round 3 now? It's hard to keep track of Butamax's and Gevo's back and forth bio-isobutanol lawsuit these days.

Gevo announced today that the the US Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) granted the company two patents on bio-isobutanol production. Gevo also filed a lawsuit against Butamax and its parent company DuPont for allegedly infringing Gevo's newly-issued patents.

Gevo said the lawsuit is based on Butamax's own publications describing their use of the technology that Gevo claimed to have invented first and now received the patents.

Gevo's patent 8,017,375, "Yeast Organism Producing Isobutanol at a High Yield" (PDC patent) focuses on the modification of yeast to produce isobutanol instead of ethanol. Patent 8,017,376, "Methods of Increasing Dihydroxy Acid Dehydratase Activity to Improve Production of Fuels, Chemicals, and Amino Acids" ("AFT Patent") covers enzymatic steps on isobutanol production from yeast.

If readers recall, Butamax first filed its own lawsuit against Gevo on January, alleging that Gevo had infringed one of Butamax's patents issued in December 2010. Butamax amended the lawsuit last month to include Butamax's other newly received patent. I wonder if the people at the US PTO office have their popcorns already in hand to enjoy the fight.

Meanwhile, I was able to get great information from Gevo's Investor Day meeting held in New York City last week. Here are some of the key highlights:

• Gevo was talking about their process yield position already at 94% and theoretical yield at 41%. I wish I've listened more to my Engineering Economics professor so I'll understand fully what these means. What Gevo said to the investors present is that these ultimately leads to low feedstock contribution costs, low operating costs and low capital costs. For 1 bushel of corn, the company said they can get 2.2 gallons of isobutanol and 17 lbs of animal feed.

• Gevo's Luverne, Minnesota, facility is on track to start in the first half of 2012. The Luverne facility has capacity to produce 18m gal/year bio-isobutanol but Gevo said it is currently retrofitting above this (via manipulation of their yeast). The Redfield, South Dakota, facility is expected to start in early 2013 (compared to initial expectation of Q4 2012) and has a capacity to produce 38m gal/year of bio-isobutanol.

• Gevo expects to retrofit about 3 plants by the end of 2013, 6 plants by 2014 and 9 plants by 2015. Bio-isobutanol target production volume is around 10m gal/year during 2012, 60m gpy in 2013, 200m gpy in 2014 and target 350m gpy in 2015.

• Gevo's target isobutanol selling price is as follows: $3.5-4/gal by 2012; $3.7-4/gal by 2013; $3.5-4/gal by 2014, and $2.95-4.40/gal by 2015. Gevo estimates theoretical cash costs to produce bio-isobutanol at an average of $1.60/gal, or $1.00/gal lower than petroleum-based isobutanol during the period from 2006-2011.

• Lanxess said it is now in the final stage of contract negotiations with Gevo for the supply of isobutanol so they can make isobutene (for rubber application) in Sarnia, Ontario, Canada. Lanxess aims to produce at least 50% of its 150,000 tonnes/year in butyl rubber production from bio-isobutene at the Sarnia facility. The companies did not disclose how much is that in equivalent to bio-isobutanol consumption. Lanxess said they would like to see isobutanol coming from Gevo by 2013 but at the latest by mid-decade.

• With regards to the development of paraxylene (PX) made from bio-isobutanol, Gevo said it is currently discussing a bio-PX joint development agreement with a third party which it plans to announce by the fourth quarter. Gevo and its partner Toray Industries are also moving from from lab-scale "proof of concept" to establishing commercial-scale operations for the bio-PX. Gevo expects to go to pilot stage next year and targets 2014 for commercialization phase of the project. Toray is expected to be part of the commercialization phase.

UPDATE (9/14/11 at 10:30am):

Butamax issued a statement on the Gevo lawsuit and said that the allegation is "baseless and irresponsible." Butamax also noted that the Gevo patents are based on Butamax's technology "and cannot be practiced to make isobutanol without infringing Butamax's right."

 

A follow-up to my Weekly News Roundup:

• Neste Oil has launched a joint algae research program with the Marine Research Center at Finnish Environment Institute. The program is part of Neste Oil's efforts aimed at using algae oil as a raw material for producing NExBTL renewable diesel in the future.

• Gevo and Mansfield Oil Company signed a commercial off-take deal where Mansfield will distribute isobutanol based fuel into the petroleum market. A 5-year contract will allow Mansfield to blend Gevo's isobutanol for its own use and be a distributor for Gevo's isobutanol. A 3-year contract covers a Mansfield subsidiary proving supply chain services that includes logistics management, customer service support, invoicing and billing services.

• A number of European organizations including the UK's National Centre for Biorenewable Energy, Fuels and materials (NNFCC) has formed a 4.5 year project called European EnAlgae to unlock the potential of algal bioenergy. EnAlgae will establish a series of pilot scale seaweed farms and microalgae growth facilities in the region to provide the crucial information needed to assess the productivity of algae production.

• Air Products has been awarded a contract to supply onsite oxygen, compressed dry air and nitrogen to INEOS Bio's joint venture cellulosic ethanol project in Vero Beach, Florida. Operations are expected to begin in the second quarter of 2012.

• The American Biogas Council is pushing for support on biogas legislation Waste-To-Energy Technology Act of 2011 (H.R. 66) that would provide a 30% tax credit to eligible facilities using municipal solid waste or sewage sludge.

• GE has joined Virgin Australia and a consortium of other partners to research and develop commercial biofuel for the aviation industry. The consortium will focus on pyrolytic biomass conversion from mallee eucalytp tree and intend to have a pilot biofuel production unit operating in Australia by 2012.

It was a busy week, given the Labor Day holiday, school, Gevo's investor day meeting and preparing for my upcoming Japanese renewable chemicals article and cellulosic ethanol article for ICIS Chemical Business.

Plus, my bio-butanediol article will come out on Monday on ICB. Stay tune for that! Meanwhile, here are this week's news roundup which seems to center on clean technologies - probably the after effects of my Solyndra post....

Eastman expands phthalate-free plasticizers
Estman Chemical will expand its phthalate-free Benzoflex plasticizer line at the Kohtla-Jarve, Estonia site by an additional 11,000 tonnes.year, which is expected to be completed by the end of second quarter 2012. This is the facility's second expansion. Eastman also acquired plasticizer manufacturer Scandiflex do Brasil S.A. Industrias Quimicas. Scandiflex brings several complimentary non-phthalate products to Eastman's plasticizer portfolio.

BioSolar enters Asian PV supply
BioSolar entered into a sales rep agreement with ShinHa, a Korean firm representing large Asian photovoltaic panel manufacturers targeting the North American solar market. BioSolar said the US is not likely to be a major manufacturer of PV panels but North America is expected to be the fastest growing PV consumer market with annual growth rate of 31% in installations during 2011-2016.

Novozymes will collaborate with Nidus and its other partners Bunge Limited and Monsanto Company to select and develop early-stage energy technologies. Launched in September 2010, Nidus and its partners identify market opportunities and experienced entrepreneurs to find and develop technologies that must meet a market need, have potential for a strong intellectual property position and offer a principal investigator willing to collaborate to commercialize the technology.

Air Products signed a contract with Hunan Gongchuang Photovoltaic Science & Technology Co., Ltd for the supply of bulk and specialty gases at its news silicon thin-film photovoltaic (PV) manufacturing facility in Hengyang City, Hunan Province, China. Hunan Gongchuang is building a 40MW manufacturing facility utilizing Oerlikon Solar's Micromorph® turnkey production line, known as the FAB 1200. The new facility is expected to begin production by the end of this year.

Canadian research firm Linnaeus Plant Sciences was awarded $1.2m from Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) to further advance production of oilseed crops camelina and safflower for use as feedstock in chemicals manufacture such as polymers, lubricants, surfactants,etc. Linnaeus already markets its bio-based lubricant products under its Smart Earth Corporation ™ brand.

Unilever has achieved its target in the UK by striking an agreement with its waste supplier Veolia to ensure that more than 97% of its waste is recycled. The remaining 3% will be converted into usable energy. The company has 11 manufacturing sites across the UK.

Brazil's PET recycling grows 7.6% in 2010.

LANXESS is in the final stages of negotiation for supplies of bio-isobutanol from US-based renewable chemicals firm Gevo.

Gevo expects to have its first commercial plant producing isobutanol-based paraxylene (PX) by 2014.

Global photovoltaic technology production more than doubled in 2010 to make it one of the world's fastest-growing industries, according to a report issued by the European Commission's Joint Research Centre.

Sorry for the post delay this week. Work deadlines and school are bad combination.

This week, most of the green social media talk is on solar panel manufacturer Solyndra and it's bankruptcy filing. Solyndra was one of the biggest recipients of US government funding (around $527m to be exact according to a NY Times article). I remembered in 2008-2009, the company was also a darling of the venture capital world.

The debate these days is whether government funding, loans and subsidies are really that helpful - both for taxpayers and for technology start-ups, especially when US lawmakers are talking about cutting spending.

According to the NY Times, two other US solar companies, American solar companies, Evergreen Solar and SpectraWatt, also sought bankruptcy protection in August. All of the companies blamed stiff competition from cheaper Chinese solar panel manufacturers as well as ongoing bad economy. When it comes to the business of chemistry, I like Cleantech Chemistry blog's explanation on how Solyndra's product economics failed driven by ramped up of polysilicon and solar modules capacity around the world.

Regarding DOE financing, an interesting perspective was posted by Greentech Media on Solydra's share of the total DOE solar funding, which the blog said was 3.4% of the DOE solar portfolio.

Now, the green blog has been putting out news lately of further US grant and loan announcements on the development and commercialization of carbon capture technologies, advanced biofuel and renewable chemicals, and also in solar technologies. You would think that the Solyndra story could have paused these fundings? Think again.

Just last week, the Department of Energy (DOE) announced funding up to $12m in three-small scale projects from LanzaTech, Virent Energy Systems and Research Triangle Institute, which aims to accelerate development of drop-in biofuels and biobased chemicals.

Just for background here, LanzaTech will receive up to $4m to convert biomass-based ethanol into jet fuel; Virent will receive up to $4m to convert biomass into oxygenated chemical intermediates; and Research Triangle Institute will receive up to $4m to integrate thermochemical and hydroprocessing technologies that will help produce biomass-based gasoline and diesel.

Also last week, the DOE plans to plunk $41m to 16 projects that will develop post-combustion technologies for carbon capture from coal-fired power plants within a span of 3 years. Some of the companies that capture the blog's attention here were Novozymes, GE Global Research, and W.R. Grace.

Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), a big recipient of a 2009 carbon capture DOE funding ($141m to be exact), recently broke ground on the construction of the US' first large scale industrial CCS facility in Decatur, Illinois. The facility is expected to capture and store 1m tons/year of carbon dioxide coming from cron-based ethanol biofuel processing from nearby plants. The capture and storage is expected to begin in late summer 2013.

Some of the renewable chemical companies that I've talked to about CCS noted that it is actually better for the DOE to just fund development of the use of waste CO2 and convert it into something useful (and profitable) than have it stored on the ground.

Back to recent government funding announcements,  the blog posted last week a biofuel development and commercialization investment of up to $510m coming from the DOE, US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the US Navy. The agencies plan to collaborate with private firms that will match the investments to construct or retrofit several drop-in biofuel plants and refineries.

And finally this first week of September, the DOE are awarding more than $145m in 69 solar projects. The projects are expected to improve materials, manufacturing processes and supply chains for a wide range of photovoltaic solar cells and solar energy system components. Dow Chemical, GE, and Owens Corning are the recipients that stood out for the blog.

I've actually asked some of the companies that I've covered in the green chemicals/biofuel field regarding the necessity of government grants/loans. All agree that they are helpful especially when it comes to advancing new technologies but to a point. All also agree that a business cannot and must not rely on these grants/loans and especially subsidies.

But then the field of renewable chemicals could be a little different compared to cleantech energy and biofuels. Come to think of it, renewable chemicals do not really get as much funding as renewable energy/biofuel funding anyway.

I did not want to make my previous biofuel post too long so I separated this, which are compilation of recent biofuel news from the past two weeks:

• Honeywell's UOP begun construction of its biomass-based biofuel demonstration unit in Kapolei, Hawaii. The biorefinery is backed by a $25m US Department of Energy award. The plant is scheduled to begin production in 2012 and will be fully operational by 2014.

• Petrobras and Sao Martinho plan to build a 700m liters/year ethanol plant through a new joint venture company Nova Fronteira Energia for 520.7m reais ($329m). The project will also expand Sao Martinho's crushing capacity at Boa Vista from 2.3m tonnes of sugar to 8m tonnes by 2014-2015 harvest.

• Zeachem and Chrysler plans to form a strategic partnership to accelerate the development and market adoption of cellulosic ethanol.

• INEOS Bio's joint venture Ineos New Planet Bioenergy (INPB) has finalized a $75m private financing backed by a loan guarantee from the US Deparment of Agriculture for its new Indian River BioEnergy facility in Vero Beach, Florida. The facility will produce 8m gal/year (24,000 tons/year) biomass-based ethanol.

• Archer Daniels Midland will purchase a majority share of Polish biodiesel producer Elstar Oils S.A. The company operates a rapeseed crushing, refining, solid-fat packaging and oil bottling facility in Czernin, and a fully-automated biodiesel facility in Malbork.

• Dynamotive and Genting Bio-Oil has formed a memorandum of understanding to explore development of pyrolysis oil market in the Southeast Asian region. The companies will evaluate the possible business opportunities for the construction of a commercial biofuel plant, including biomass quantification, characterization and evaluation for use in pyrolysis process, biofuel production, supply chain and plant location.

• Virent has completed its first road fleet test for its biogasoline organized by Shell. Virent's sugar-based gasoline was found to cause "no harm" to vehicles in comparison to Shell's baseline fuel. Virent also received a $4m US Department of Energy award to deconstruct and convert cellulosic biomass into drop-in biofuels and chemicals. The three-year project objectives include the deconstruction and conversion of three types of biomass: corn stover, wood and bagasse.

• Abengoa also has been selected by the US Department of Energy to receive an offer of a conditional commitment for a $133.9m loan to construct a cellulosic biofuel facility. The plant will produce 23m gal/year of advanced cellulosic ethanol, as well as enough energy to meet the electric power needs of the plant.

• Renewable Energy Group restarted its newly acquired 30m gal/year Albert Lea, Minnesota, biodiesel plant. Customers have the option to pick up either B99 or B100 at the plant. The REG Albert Lea facility brings the REG owned/operated total to more than 210 million gallons.

• Imperial Petroleum will secure a two-year biodiesel feedstock supply from Green Grease Solutions based in New Jersey for Imperial's Middletown, Indiana, biodiesel operations.

• The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) hit its first 1m hectares of certified sustainable palm oil  (CSPO) production area around the world. CSPO global production is now close to 5m tonnes, representing almost 10% of global palm oil production.

I previously mentioned the US government's plan to invest up to $510m within the next three years as well as to partner with the private sector in producing advanced biofuels for use in military and commercial transportation.The Department of Agriculture (USDA), Department of Energy (DOE) and the US Navy will collaborate with private firms to construct or retrofit several drop-in biofuel plants and refineries.

The agencies said the facilities will be located in geographically diverse locations ready for market access. The biofuels should also meet military specifications and that it will not have any significant impact on food-based agricultural commodity supply.

The three agencies are currently seeking input from the private sector towards the creation of a public-private partnership in developing drop-in advanced biofuels.

There had been several economic/market study reports that came out recently on biofuels. One is from the Worldwatch Institute which said that global biofuels production increased 17% last year at an all time-high of 105bn liters (vs 90bn liters in 2009) mostly driven by high oil prices, global economic rebound (this one is a hmmm), and new laws and mandates in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China and the US.

The US and Brazil remain the two largest ethanol producers with 49bn liters (57% of global output) and 28bn liters (33%), respectively. The European Union is the largest biodiesel producer occupying 53% of total global output in 2010. According to the report, some European countries are switching to ethanol from biodiesel because of a recent study from the European Commission that ethanol crops have higher energy content than biodiesel crops.

In the US, the National Biodiesel Board (NBB) put out its latest production statistics last month and reported that despite the weak economy, the biodiesel industry is on track to produce at least 800m gal/year for 2011, more than double that of the biodiesel production at 315m gallons last year. Of course last year, the biodiesel industry was greatly impacted when a $1/gal tax incentive was not extended when it expired in December 2009.  

The tax incentive reinstated in December 2010 is slated to expire this year.

Meanwhile, the United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organization (UN-FAO) recently published its 2011-2020 Biofuels Outlook and projected that the US will remain the largest ethanol producer and consumer while the European Union is expected to still be the major producer and user of biodiesel.

The share of corn-based ethanol over total ethanol produced in developed countries is expected to decrease from 89% over the 2008-2010 period to 78% in 2020. Cellulosic ethanol production is expected to rise representing about 8% of total ethanol production by 2020.

By 2020, FAO projected global energy share of ethanol in gasoline type fuel use at 8.8% compared to 5.3% average within 2008-2010 period. Volume of ethanol share in gasoline type fuel is expected to rise from 7.7% average in the 2008-2010 time frame to 12.6% by 2020.

Global ethanol production is projected to rise to 155bn liters in 2020 with a rate of 4% growth within the 2011-2020 period. Global biodiesel growth for the same period is projected at 6%. Projected global biodiesel production is 42bn liters by 2020 compared to the average 17.6bn liters within 2008-2010 time frame.

Global share of biodiesel in diesel type fuel will rise to 3.8% in 2020 compared to the average 2% in 2008-2010 estimate. Biodiesel volume share is expected at 5% in 2020 compared to the average 2.5% in 2008-2010.

[Photo from CNAS.org]

I finally was able to get some questions answered regarding BioAmber's announcement of its new North American bio-succinic acid (and bio-butanediol) plant that will be located in Sarnia, Ontario, Canada.

The Sarnia plant will be operated by BioAmber's new subsidiary Bluewater Biochemicals, and will have initial capacity of 17,000 tonnes/year by 2013. This capacity will increase to 35,000 tonnes/year by 2014 and will then use next-generation yeast developed by Cargill.

BioAmber also plans by 2014 to have a 23,000 tonne/year capacity producing bio-BDO (and associated tetrahydrofuran and gamma butyrolactone) in the new facility using bio-succinic acid as feedstock. The company will use DuPont's technology in BDO production. If readers recall early this year, bio-succinic acid producer Myriant also had a partnership agreement with UK engineering firm Davy Process Technology for the use of their bio-succinic acid to produce BDO, THF and GBL.

Now according to BioAmber president Jean-Francois Huc, the company is planning to both sell their bio-BDO to the merchant market as well as supply it to their partners although the company prefer to secured a long-term partnership deal for both their renewable-based BDO and THF.

I am planning to write an article about bio-BDO development and commercialization updates for ICIS Chemical Business' September 15 issue. So for subscribers, watch out for that! 

Back to the BioAmber announcement, Huc added that the new Bluewater Biochemicals subsidiary was specifically created as a Canadian legal entity that will own and operate the Sarnia plant.

"We created a separate legal entity to facilitate the possible future entry of a minority equity partner." - Huc.

Total investment for the Sarnia plant including the C$35m ($34.14m) government grant/loans will be around $80m, according to Huc. Agencies such as the Ontario Ministry for Economic Development and Trade (MEDT), Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC), and the Canadian Sustainable Chemistry Alliance contributed to the government financing. The first phase of the project is expected to generate 150 construction jobs and 40 full time jobs, according to MEDT.

MEDT also noted that taxes on business investment in Ontario were recently cut in half making Ontario more competitive and encouraging new business investments. Huc noted Sarnia's proximity to certain raw materials as well as availability of existing utilities, transportation infrastructure and shared services.

"These collectively really helped Sarnia stand out as a unique site in North America for biobased chemical production, and we plan to leverage all of these in the operation of our plant." - Huc

When asked about the Cargill yeast technology, BioAmber said the yeast advantages over the current E.Coli technology (that the company is using now) is fourfold:

• It is more robust so the yeast is not susceptible to phage contamination, which therefore reduces variable costs and operating complexity
• It has higher productivity, can then produce more succinic in the same equipment and in the same period of time and therefore lowers capital expediture intensity
• It grows and produces succinic at low pH, which simplifies purification and further lowers variable cost
• It is now successfully used and commercialized by Cargill in lactic acid production.

 The green blog also asked BioAmber about the status of their planned facility in Asia. If readers also recalled, BioAmber formed a partnership this year with Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation (MCC) to produce bio-succinic acid for MCC's joint venture company PTT MCC Biochem. The joint venture will manufacture and market bio-polybutylene succinate (Pbs) using bio-succinic acid as one of its feedstock.

BioAmber's succinic acid facility will be located next to PTT MCC Biochem's  20,000 tonne/year Pbs plant in Thailand. According to my recent interview with MCC (article on ICB for subscribers), the Pbs plant will require about 15,000 tonne/year bio-succinic acid.

BioAmber noted that it will build considerably more capacity than this to both meet PTT MCC Biochem's future needs and the demand of BioAmber's growing customer base in Asia through BioAmber's distributor Mitsui & Co.

"We will be disclosing more details on our plans for Asia shortly," said Huc.