When Life Gives You Lemons…Make Ethyl Acetate
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In Washington, BIO’s World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology and Bioprocessing is underway, and by the time you are reading this, it may well be over. More than 700 industry professionals gathered this week to confer, argue, commiserate, brag, beg, spy, kvetch and inspire.
…Many of the attendees had sour looks on their faces most of the week, giving the distinct impression that they had been sucking on lemons. Judging from the traction that many were noting the absence of, maybe they are.
…But the dismal mood is at odds with the data. The “Future of Industrial Biorefineries” report from the World Economic Forum was unveiled by Novozymes CEO Steen Riisgaard, concluding that bio-based fuels, energy, and chemicals have the potential to generate up to $230 billion in revenues by 2030.
…The transformation in the business plans and models is primarily from wild excitement over biofuels to wild excitement over renewable chemicals.
…Dead on arrival. The EPA is expected to approve E15 late in the summer with a series of conditions (such as only approving it for late model cars) so splintered that the retail fuel distribution system will never implement it. An industry which has been loathe to install E85 pumps is unlikely in the extreme to install E15 pumps and E10 pumps in the same location, or blender pumps that require car owners to put inter model year in order to receive the correct fuel. In short, victory in E15 will have been bought at such a price that it is indistinguishable from defeat. READ MORE
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