Jon Veldhouse, CEO of Qore, said: "QIRA is the perfect product, one that enables the industry to move quickly and seamlessly to more sustainable alternatives. QIRA's BDO derivatives have the same physical and technical properties as fossil-based Bdos, and the product's carbon footprint (PCF) can be reduced by 86 percent."
Bio-based BDO production process
The one-step method is also called direct fermentation method, which mixes sugars with water, inorganic salts and microorganisms, and converts sugars directly into BDO through the fermentation process of microorganisms.
The one-step production process, primarily operated by Genomatica, satisfies the metabolic design for BDO biosynthesis by introducing one or more encoded DNA genes to a screened population of E. coli to enable 4-HBCoA or putrescine pathway enzymes. In addition, Genomatica has developed a metabolic pathway for enhancing methanol reduction equivalents to further increase BDO yields by increasing the methanol equivalents used for reduction. At present, the raw materials of one-step method mainly use wheat straw and corn straw.
The two-step process uses microbial fermentation to convert glucose into succinic acid, which is then used to produce BDO. The two-step production process was developed by the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Two biogenic BDO processes, direct saccharification and succinate conversion, have been successfully established on industrial production lines, with direct saccharification mainly using the process authorized by Genomatica.
1.Direct fermentation
The U.S. company Genomatica first developed the technology to produce BDO by direct fermentation of sugar in 2008 and successfully tested the 3m3/d fermentation process in 2010.
Genomatica and DuPont Tate&Lyle Bio Products (a joint venture between DuPont and Tate&Lyle in the United Kingdom) set up an industrial scaling line in 2012 and produced 5 million pounds of biobased BDO in five weeks. The line uses Genomatica's BDO fermentation process and Tate&Lyle's demonstration scale plant.
In 2013, BASF announced that Genomatica's patented technology would be used to commercially produce biobased BDO from renewable raw materials with comparable quality to petroleum-based BDO, and would deliver the product to customers for testing and commercial use. At present, the production capacity of BASF bio-based BDO is about 30,000 tons/year.
In 2016, Italian company Novamont established MaterBiotech, the world's first bio-based BDO-dedicated industrial chemical plant using Genomatica's direct fermentation technology. The plant has a production capacity of 30,000 tons per year and is currently used exclusively for Novamont's Mater-Bi series of biodegradable plastics.
In 2021, U.S. agri-food giant Cargill and Germany's Helm formed Qore, which will use Genomatica's technology to build the biobase BDO plant, which will be built on the perimeter of Cargill's existing facility in Eddyville, Iowa, with an estimated total investment of $300 million. It will produce 65,000 tons/year of BDO and is scheduled to be operational in 2024.
In 2021, China Yuanli Chemical Group Co., Ltd. successfully developed and put into production bio-based BDO, and officially exported to the EU market in 2022, achieving a breakthrough of zero domestic bio-based BDO products.
2.Succinic acid conversion synthesis
In 2010, BioAmber developed a bio-based BDO production process using catalytic succinic acid hydrogenation technology licensed by DuPont. In 2015, BioAmber and Japan's Mitsui built and put into operation a 30,000 tons/year industrial production line of succinic acid in Ontario, Canada, which can convert to produce 22,000 tons/year of bio-based BDO.
In 2013, the British company JMDavy announced that its Teesside plant had successfully produced biobase BDO using succinic acid from Myriant's fermentation process.
In addition, the new bio-based BDO project also includes the 10,000 tons bio-based BDO project of Jinfa Technology in Liaoning, and the 65,000 tons bio-based BDO project of Cargill in the United States and Helm in Germany.
Commercial application of biobased BDO
Biobased PBAT:
From the current production capacity application situation, biobased BDO is mainly used in the manufacture of biobased PBAT. Basf and Novamont produce biobase for their own use and are not available for export to produce biobase PBAT.
In China, due to the plastic ban policy in recent years, PBAT as an important material for degradable plastic bags, the industry's development speed is amazing, has formed a relatively complete industrial chain. These PBats are fossil-based products, and their raw materials, such as BDO and adipic acid (AA), are also fossil-based.
It is reported that the European Union requires a certain biobase content (60%) for biodegradable film bags made of PBAT. At present, because the production capacity of biobased BDO has not been greatly improved, the implementation of the standard is not strict. However, with the further improvement of production capacity, biobased BDO still has investment prospects.
Bio-based spandex:
In September 2022, Leica Corporation, a global leader in developing innovative fiber and technology solutions for the textile and apparel industry, announced that it has signed an agreement with Qore to become the first company in the world to commercialise bio-based spandex on a large scale using a new generation of bio-based BDO as the main feedstock.
Through this collaboration, 70% of LYCRA fiber will come from raw materials that are renewable every year. This change is expected to reduce the carbon footprint of LYCRA fibers by up to 44% compared to equivalent products made from fossil fuel feedstocks, while maintaining the same high-quality performance parameters as conventional LYCRA fibers.
Carbon reduction also faces challenges
Biobased BDO offers significant reductions in GHG emissions during the "cradle to gate" lifecycle phase, and Genomatica's LCA (Life Cycle Analysis) estimates that biobased BDO can reduce GHG emissions by 52% compared to petrochemicals. In the future, with the promotion and application of downstream biodegradable plastics and the strict implementation of the national "dual carbon" policy, the biolegal BDO process will be further developed and is expected to compete with the existing industrial BDO production process.
However, the barriers to entry for new players are high:
First, the technical hurdles are relatively high. In particular, Genomatica has applied for a patent for the one-step process, and a newcomer wanting to use it for biobased BDO requires Genomatica's license.
Second, the downstream digestion of green premium for bio-based BDO is still insufficient, resulting in low downstream demand. At present, in addition to self-use, the sales model of biobase BDO manufacturers is mainly small order customized sales.
Third, because there is less information about biobased BDO in circulation, the market recognition of biobased BDO is low.
