Can agricultural residues sow seeds of biochemicals?

India is one of the leading producers of agri-produce in the world and generates lots of agricultural material that is wasted. If put to good use, these can be used to make energy, as well as chemicals. There is certainly a need and an opportunity for the industry to explore greener and renewable sources that be used as building blocks for industrial chemicals.
 
Demand for more renewable and bio-based solutions is increasing with rise in population and consumption growth, climate change and energy & resource security. To meet this requirement, companies will have to investment in sustainable and bio-based products and production processes. This is expected to drive the bio-based chemicals industry to next level.
 
G S Krishnan, Regional President – India, Novozymes South Asia Pvt Ltd, said, “Growing populations combined with oil scarcity and oil price volatility is creating an increasing global need for innovative alternatives to oil-based chemicals. Environmental and climate change concerns are further pushing the need to move away from oil based society towards a bio-based society by plugging into the power of plants and other renewable sources.”
 
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According to him, biochemicals produced from renewable raw materials have the potential to meet this global need for sustainable alternatives. These biochemicals can be produced from renewable raw materials including agricultural residues. “The contribution of biotechnology is still modest in the chemical industry, but it is gaining momentum. Analysts and researchers estimate that biochemicals could contribute as much as 17% of the global chemical market by 2025,” said Krishnan.
 
Biofuels, the story so far
Governments and companies all over the world are looking for increased substitution of petroleum-based products with biomass-based products. Increasing crude oil prices and growing petroleum subsidiary bill have forced Government of India to make mandatory blending of ethanol with petrol. This has resulted in growing demand for biofuels, ie bioethanol, in recent times.
 
“Demand for ethanol and sugars will increase both globally and in India. In India, ethanol is currently consumed as fuel in relatively modest volumes (less than one million m3/a). Indian government has set an E5 mandate for gasoline and E20 target for 2017 (gasoline shall contain 5% and 20% ethanol by volume),” said Pasi Rousu, President, Asia & Pacific, Chempolis - a Finland based biorefining technology company that has signed an MoU with ONGC in October 2013 for biorefinery project in India.
 
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The selection of raw material has to be carried out carefully in order to really provide a sustainable solution for bio-based chemicals. At present, considerable amount of transportation fuels and chemicals are produced from food crops. However, experts consider such production to be unsustainable. “This is because it competes with food production and cannot considerably reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore, demand for cellulosic fuel ethanol and cellulosic sugars for chemical industry are increasing all over the world,” said Rousu.
 
Considering this, demand for technologies which can convert non-food crops and biomass into ethanol is gaining traction. In fact, Pune-based Praj Industries began construction of second generation cellulosic ethanol demo plant at Sangli (Maharashtra) in August 2013. The plant, which South Asia's first cellulosic ethanol demo plant, will operate on different varieties of biomass with a capacity of 100 dry tonnes of biomass per day, which includes agricultural wastes such as corn stover, cobs and bagasse. The plant will also enable Praj to develop various biochemicals and bio-products.
 
Fueling biochemicals demand
Ethanol is one of the key raw materials used in chemical industry. And bioethanol can pave a road to green chemicals. “In addition to fuels production, various chemicals can be produced from cellulosic sugars. The mandates and targets for biomass-based chemicals are less defined than for fuel ethanol, but still government and companies have set targets for increased production of biomass-based chemicals,” said Rousu.
 
ALSO READ: Agricultural residues is the only way to achieve ethanol production targets: G S Krishnan, Novozymes

There are other agri-produce such as palm oil, veg oils, castor oil, etc, which can be used to make biochemicals. According TSMG, while traditionally bio-based chemicals have been used for niche applications such as personal care and food additives, these are now used in various new applications such as biolubricants, biopolymers, and biosurfactants. Many multinational companies are sourcing raw material for making bio-based chemicals and polymers from India.
 
For example, India is the world’s leading exporter of castor oil, a key starting raw material for making polyamides and polyols. As a result, a few global chemical manufacturers are eyeing to tie-up with castor oil suppliers in India for long-term benefits. A case in point is the formation JV between the Mumbai-based oleochemical company, Jayant Agro Organics Ltd, and two Japanese firms - Mitsui Chemicals Inc and Itoh Oil Chemicals Co Ltd – in August 2013 for manufacturing castor oil based polyols. This is a second deal announced by Jayant Agro Organics. In April 2013, Jayant Agro entered into an agreement with Arkema, a French chemical company, to develop castor oil production, which will used by Arkema to manufacture bio-polyamides.
 
Presence of burgeoning chemical industry and focus on increasing use of biofuels in transportation make India a very attractive market for bio-based chemical manufacturers.