Recently, many industry colleagues have been discussing bio-based chemicals, considering them as a significant future direction for the chemical industry. Why are bio-based chemicals gaining attention? What are the main future applications of bio-based chemicals?
1. What Are Bio-Based Chemicals?
According to the "Terminology, Definitions, and Identification of Bio-Based Materials GB/T 39514-2020," bio-based chemicals refer to chemicals produced using biomass as raw material or through biological manufacturing. These include bio-alcohols, organic acids, alkanes, and alkenes produced from biomass or through biosynthesis, bioprocessing, and biorefining, as well as sugar engineering products. They also encompass bio-based polymers, bio-based plastics, bio-based chemical fibers, bio-based rubber, bio-based coatings, bio-based material additives, bio-based composites, and products made from various bio-based materials.
Bio-based chemicals are essentially chemicals produced through biological fermentation processes. They can be commercial chemicals such as bio-ethanol, bio-diesel, and bio-hydrogen, or specialty chemicals used in fields like fragrances and daily care products, such as bio-fragrances, bio-amino acids, and bio-vitamins. They can also serve as essential raw materials for basic chemical production, such as bio-ethanol for ethylene and bio-PDO for PTT fibers, and bio-based polymer products, which are critical basic products in the chemical industry.
Bio-based chemicals differ from traditional chemical production processes as they are produced using conventional bio-materials as raw materials. They have certain competitive advantages in carbon cycling, clean energy utilization, and market competition. The progress in bio-based chemical production technology, especially the widespread application following the expiration of some patents, and the approaching carbon peak, have significantly increased industry attention on bio-based chemicals.
2. Categories and Representative Products of Bio-Based Chemicals
Based on national standards, bio-based chemicals can be categorized by material characteristics and application scenarios into bio-based chemicals, bio-based polymers, bio-based material additives, bio-based chemical fibers, bio-based composites, bio-based rubber, bio-based coatings, and other bio-based chemicals. Secondary classifications can further differentiate more types.
Since there are numerous bio-based chemical products, basic chemicals can be produced and manufactured as bio-based, and there is no clear classification concept at the level of classification. Therefore, many industries have their classification standards. However, regardless of classification, bio-based chemicals can achieve the same functions and properties as traditional chemicals, even showing superior characteristics in some areas.
According to the industrial chain, bio-based chemicals can be divided into the following processes: biomass (raw material) - intermediate product (transitional product) - bio-based chemicals (main product) - products (end applications). The most commonly used biomass raw materials are starch, cellulose, lignin, plants, and proteins, among others. According to incomplete statistics, over 40 types of bio-based chemicals have achieved industrial production in China, with some products achieving mass production exceeding 100,000 tons.
Currently, bio-based chemicals in the Chinese market have reached an initial scale, with the variety of products continuously growing and production scale expanding.
3. Why Are Bio-Based Chemicals Gaining Attention?
Bio-based chemicals attract attention for several reasons: raw material sustainability and renewability, alignment with current environmental policies, rapid market consumption growth, wide application, and significant social implications.
First, bio-based chemicals are produced from green renewable resources using biological conversion methods. Materials such as leaves, straw, grain, vegetables, and other plants and animals can serve as basic raw materials for bio-based chemicals. In the context of dwindling global petrochemical resources, the sustainability and renewability of these raw materials give bio-based chemicals a significant advantage. Many resource-poor cities are actively developing bio-based chemicals to avoid urban resource disadvantages and achieve regional resource recycling. However, the current main issue with bio-based chemicals is high cost, particularly the cost of carbon sources, and there is competition for food resources. These issues need to be addressed through breakthroughs in raw materials or technology.
Second, bio-based chemicals are environmentally friendly compared to traditional chemicals primarily reliant on non-renewable fossil resources like oil, coal, and natural gas. Bio-based chemical production processes are more environmentally friendly, produce less pollution, and generate by-products that can be used as feed, with almost no three wastes output. This aligns with the increasingly stringent environmental protection laws and regulations, meets dual-carbon policy requirements, and reflects sustainable social development.
Third, the production scale and consumption market supply of bio-based new materials are rapidly growing. According to relevant data, by the end of 2023, China's bio-based new materials production had exceeded 1.9 million tons, growing at about 9% annually over the past few years. Starting in 2021, the production of bio-based new materials in China accelerated, with an average annual growth rate exceeding 13%. With technological progress and breakthroughs, the production scale of bio-based new materials in China is expected to continue to grow rapidly, while the overall growth rate of other fossil-based products is declining.
Regarding the demand growth for bio-based chemicals, consumption has steadily increased over the past nine years, with China's bio-based chemicals consumption exceeding 1.9 million tons by 2023, growing at an average annual rate of about 12%. Bio-based chemicals in China are applied in two ways: special applications for bio-based chemicals, such as in pharmaceuticals and degradable consumer markets, and as substitutes for traditional chemical products, where cost requirements are not high. The breakthrough in large-scale bio-based chemicals is the biggest benefit to the bio-based chemicals market.
In terms of the output value of bio-based chemicals, China's output value reached about 26 billion yuan by 2023, growing at an average annual rate of about 11% over the past nine years, including export value. Bio-based chemicals in China have special application markets, with market prices showing a relatively stable upward trend. However, the consumer markets in Europe and North America are larger, making exports an important sales direction for Chinese bio-based chemicals.
The average unit value of bio-based chemicals in China has gradually increased over the past nine years, reaching 13,000 yuan per ton by 2023, with the highest value exceeding 14,000 yuan per ton, growing at a slow rate of about 2% per year. Compared with other chemicals, many products' prices have gradually decreased due to increased supply, intensified competition, and sustained inflation, but bio-based chemicals' market prices have continued to rise, attracting enterprises. However, the "halo" of high prices also needs to be considered, as high prices may become a disadvantage if fully competing with petrochemical-based chemicals in the future.
Finally, bio-based chemicals have wide applications and significant social implications. They have many advantages, such as diverse types, complex structures, advanced preparation technology, unique performance, low preparation cost, and short production cycle. They are essential in medicine, agriculture, food, environmental protection, energy, and other fields. For example, in medicine, bio-based chemicals have achieved significant results in antibiotics and antiviral drugs. In environmental protection, new recyclable bio-based materials like thermosetting epoxy resins are being researched and developed, potentially significantly impacting the environmental materials field.
The development and application of bio-based chemicals help solve the problem of petrochemical resource shortages, promote the development of the biological industry, and facilitate economic structure transformation and upgrading. Their environmental friendliness also helps improve environmental quality and living standards.
These factors collectively drive the rapid increase in the attention on bio-based chemicals.
4. How Will Bio-Based Chemicals Develop in the Future?
The state has introduced numerous policies early on to encourage the development of bio-based chemicals.
In October 2021, the State Council issued the "Action Plan for Carbon Peaking Before 2030," with the main goals being significant progress in optimizing industrial and energy structures during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, new progress in green and low-carbon technology research and application, and widespread adoption of green production and lifestyle. The policy system conducive to green, low-carbon, and circular development will be further improved. By 2025, the proportion of non-fossil energy consumption will reach about 20%. This policy sets the scale, timeline, and trend for bio-based development, proposing clear development goals for the bio-based industry.
In December 2021, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued the "14th Five-Year Plan for the Development of the Raw Materials Industry," highlighting the engineering of the entire industrial chain preparation technology for bio-based materials as a key direction for technological innovation, implementing key bottleneck material breakthrough actions, and supporting material production and application enterprises to jointly conduct research on bio-based materials and bio-medical materials. This policy clarifies the main application scenarios for bio-based new materials and directs the application of bio-based chemicals in China.
In January 2023, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, among others, released the "Three-Year Action Plan for Accelerating the Innovation and Development of Non-Grain Bio-Based Materials," stipulating that by 2025, the non-grain bio-based materials industry will form an innovation and development ecosystem with strong independent innovation capabilities, a continually enriched product system, and a green circular low-carbon system. Non-grain biomass raw material utilization and application technology will be basically mature, and some non-grain bio-based products will be competitive with fossil-based products, with a high-quality, sustainable supply and consumption system initially established. This policy clarifies the application direction and goals of non-grain bio-based chemicals and further specifies application scenarios.
Currently, global bio-based giants like Genomatica, Cathay Biotech, Mitsubishi Chemical, and DuPont have patents for some bio-based chemicals that are about to expire or have already expired. Many overseas experts and scholars are returning to China for development. This brings abundant resources and technology for China's bio-based chemicals development. With the support and encouragement of Chinese policies, the bio-based chemicals industry in China is expected to.