Bio-
Gregory Penner
Soy 20/20 Project
May 27th, 2005
mass to Chemistry to Cars
Overview
• How did petroleum win?
• Targets where biomass could be competitive
• A glimpse of the future
• What do we need to do?
The 20th century belonged to petroleum.
Most intermediate chemicalsare made from petroleum.
An average car contains 275 lbsof plastic.
2,250 Ontario plastics companies,shipped $14.7 B in products in 2003.
How did we get here?
Petroleum was discovered in Ontario in 1858.
Oil has always beaten agricultural biomass on price.
$0.00
$0.10
$0.20
$0.30
$0.40
1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020
$/lb
Oil
Corn
Specific targets
1.) Automotive coatings
Dupont SuperSolidsTM Paint
Reduce VOCemissions 25%
Works with existingequipment.
Based on vinyl monomer with branched glutaric acid.
VinylPolymer
Automotive coatings
VinylMonomer
BranchedGlutaric
Acid
Acrylic Acid
Esters
C5H7O4
C3H4O2
$0.65/lb
A bio-based source?
Soybean 20% oil$0.22/lb
Canola 40% oil$0.25/lb
A bio-based source?
Vegetable oil is composed of fatty acids.
Stearic acid 18:0
Double bonds provide an opportunity.
Stearic becomes Oleic
C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-COOH-=
Ozo
ne
Fatty acids occurring in nature.
Fatty acid Formula Double bonds Fragments
Linolenic 18:2 9,12 9, 3, 6Gamma linolenic 18:3 6,9,12 2 x 6, 2 x 3EPA 20:5 5,8,11,14,17 5, 4 x 3, 1DHA 22:6 4,7,10,13,16,19 4, 5 x 3, 1
A new engineering opportunity
• Design fatty acid desaturases for targeted molecules
C-C-C-C-C=C-C-C-C-C=C-C-C-C-C=C-C-C-C-COOH
20:4 divided in four 4 x Glutaric Acid
Summary
• An opportunity exists to make carboxylic acids from vegetable oil.
• Modification of plants is required.– Modification of specificity of desaturases– Modification of fatty acid composition
• Time will be required to create these modifications
• Concerns exist over the presence of industrial components in food crops
Specific Target #2
Bio-catalysis of useful chemicals
Corn Starch
Corn $2.00/bushel$0.04/lb
70% Starch
Starch $0.05/lb
What is corn starch anyway?
Glucose polymer
Glucose
Future product aims
Starch
Glucose
Lacticacid
Propionicacid
Acrylicacid
H+
Lactobacillus
Codexis
Summary
Agriculturalproducts
EnzymeEvolution
CompetitiveChemical
Costs
A glimpse of the future
Grain ElevatorsBio-refineries
Biomass Monomers
Supply to existing chemical infrastructure.
DowImperialOil
Sunoco
Nova
Lanxess
Ethyl
PetroCanada
Invista
Kosa
Monomers Polymers
Automotive parts clusters
Polymers Cars
We need to compete globally
We need to be innovative
We need to build on our strengths
We need to build our own value chains
How do we make this happen?
An opportunity exists
$0.00
$0.10
$0.20
$0.30
$0.40
1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020
$/lb
Oil
Corn
AutomotiveAssembly
AutomotiveParts
To lead we must be able to innovate.
Petroleum
IntermediateChemicals
Polymers
Plastics
AutomotiveAssembly
AutomotiveParts
The driver is reduced cost and increased value
Biomass
IntermediateChemicals
Polymers
Plastics
We need to work together
AutomotiveIndustry
Agriculture
EnzymeChemistry
Process Engineers
Thank you