Key speakers joining the forthcoming Bio-based Chemicals Conference and Exhibition (www.worldbiofuelsmarkets.com/biochem) look back over 2012 and provide their forecasts for 2013 in the run up to the 5th international conference taking place 13-14 March in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.  As expected feedstocks, financing and products remain pivotal to the commercialisation of this industry. 

 

Transition towards commercial scale was stated as the most important development of the past 12 months, Murray McLaughlin, President of Bioindustrial Innovation Canada states; “There is increased movement towards commercialisation of bio-based chemicals and materials and hybrid products, being driven by the interest of consumers in a shift from petroleum products.”

 

Meanwhile as discussions of scale were on some people’s lips, the debate over what types of chemicals and products were actually being produced was on others. Paul Caswell, Executive Vice President for International Business Development at Cathay Industrial Biotech’s position to whether novel or drop in products are leading the way is that “The petroleum based chemical industry has been around for 70 years, if you want in, you must make the ‘drop in’ chemicals they know how to use. Novel makes a great story but you need ‘drop in’ to pay the bills.”

 

The role of effective and sustainable feedstock remains central to reaching commercial scale, especially in the development of new processes and pathways. Nadav Dobrin, a Senior Process Engineer at Tenova Bateman Technologies believes the driver of this development is, in part, due to “the objective of reaching a high efficient use of feedstock as well as the goal of developing low cost products”. Marc Delcourt, Chief Executive Officer of Global Bioenergies counters that it is not so much efficient use of the feedstock but the “cost of the feedstock. Second generation technologies are expected to emerge now and provide lower cost feedstock.”

 

 

Looking back over 2012 and forward for 2013, finance and Investment experts had mixed thoughts on the IPO financing model. Josko Bobanovic, a Partner at Sofinnova Partners, thinks that; “IPOs should not be the only way to finance expansion – it will remain one of the solutions, but others need to prevail over time.” Conversely, David Berry, a Partner at Flagship Ventures, thinks that IPOs are “dead for now...for the most part.”

 

Join the debate and hear more from these speakers (view their full interviews here), along with all 30+ confirmed speakers, at the 5th international Bio-based Chemicals Conference, 13-14 March in Rotterdam, which will unite leaders to accelerate commercialisation, innovation and market uptake. Leading industry professionals from big chemical companies (DSM, Bayer), end users (PepsiCo, Danone, Kimberly Clark), pioneering renewable chemical companies (Avantium, Bioamber, Elevance), feedstock producers, technology providers and financiers will speak and attend to debate the strategic trajectory of the bio-based economy, updates on recent collaborations, discussions on commercial scale product realisation and join the end user debate as part of the 2013 agenda.

 

 

Bio-based Chemicals (www.worldbiofuelsmarkets.com/biochem) will once again be co-located with the 8th annual World Biofuels Markets Congress & Exhibition (www.worldbiofuelsmarkets.com) - which will bring together over 1500 decision-making delegates, thought-leading speakers and world-class sponsors from every part of the biofuels value chain, in one place at one time, to network and debate the most current topics. Two industry-leading events for the price of one: Register for Bio-based Chemicals or World Biofuels Markets and attend either event on the days you register for. Visit www.worldbiofuelsmarkets.com for more information.

 

Bio-based Chemicals and World Biofuels Markets, organised by Green Power Conferences, will be held on March 12-14 in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. The Bio-based Chemicals Conference takes place on March 13 and 14 and the site visit on March 12.

 

For more information: www.worldbiofuelsmarkets.com/biochem

 

Register today

Call: +44 (0)20 7099 0600

Email: Samantha.coleman@greenpowerconferences.com

Or book online at www.worldbiofuelsmarkets.com/biochem

 

For more information on this press release please contact Melanie Botting on +44 (0)20 7099 0600 or melanie.botting@greenpowerconferences.com