The UK government should focus on 10 specific bio-based chemicals, in order to boost industrial growth, jobs, trade and investment in the UK, says a new report.<\/p>\n
Bio-based chemicals represent a dynamic area of innovation in the UK, which could become a world leader in this emerging industry. The UK has an important research lead in these 10 chemicals, and the infrastructure and global supply chains to exploit them.<\/p>\n
The report was developed by LBNet, sponsored by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), in consultation with leading biotechnology and chemistry experts from business, academia and the public sector. It includes recommendations to government to ensure the industry delivers its potential.<\/p>\n
The 10 bio-based chemicals were agreed based on commercial viability, UK strengths to exploit, functionality and sustainability. They are:<\/p>\n
Lactic acid:\u00a0Used to make PLA, which can be used for biodegradable plastics
\n2,5-Furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA): A stronger alternative to PET, which is used to make plastic bottles, food packaging and carpets
\nLevoglucosenone: A safer alternative to toxic solvents used in pharmaceutical manufacturing, flavours and fragrances.
\n5 Hydroxymethyl furfural (HMF):\u00a0A building block for plastics and polyesters
\nMuconic acid: It\u2019s derivatives could replace non-sustainable chemicals used in the production of plastics and nylon fibres
\nItaconic acid:\u00a0A replacement for petroleum-based acrylic acid, used to make absorbent materials for nappies; and resins used in high-performance marine and automotive components.
\n1,3-Butanediol:\u00a0A building block for high value products including pheromones, fragrances, insecticides, antibiotics and synthetic rubber
\nGlucaric acid: Prevents deposits of limescale and dirt on fabric or dishes, providing a green replacement for phosphate-based detergents
\nLevulinic acid:\u00a0Used in the production of environmentally friendly herbicides, flavour and fragrance ingredients, skin creams and degreasers
\nn-Butanol:\u00a0Used in a wide range of polymers and plastics, as a solvent in a\u00a0wide variety of chemical and textile processes and as a paint thinner<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The UK government should focus on 10 specific bio-based chemicals, in order to boost industrial growth, jobs, trade and investment in the UK, says a new report. Bio-based chemicals represent a dynamic area of innovation in the UK, which could become a world leader in this emerging industry. The UK has an important research lead […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","nova_meta_subtitle":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5572],"tags":[6843,5885,5528],"supplier":[7293,7402],"class_list":["post-53383","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bio-based","tag-biochemicals","tag-pla","tag-sustainability","supplier-bbsrc","supplier-lbnet"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53383","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53383"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53383\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53383"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53383"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53383"},{"taxonomy":"supplier","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/supplier?post=53383"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}