Energy futureExisting biotechnology would save energy, cut CO2 by 100 percent
A major — and surprisingly overlooked — contribution to reducing greenhouse gasses: New analysis shows that use of existing biotechnology in the production of bulk chemicals could reduce consumption of nonrenewable energy and carbon emissions by 100 percent
Bulk chemicals such as ethylene, butanol, or acrylic acid are the basic raw materials used in the production of everything from plastics and fertilizers to electronic components and medicines. Currently derived from crude oil and natural gas, bulk chemical production creates billions of tons of carbon dioxide each year. Still, the application of industrial biotechnology for the production of bulk chemicals has received much less attention than alternative fuel or biomass-derived energy production. B. G. Hermann and colleagues wanted to correct this. They analyzed current and future technology routes leading to fifteen bulk chemicals using industrial biotechnology, calculating their carbon emissions and fossil energy use. With biotechnology advances in the future, the researchers suggest that worldwide CO2 savings in the range of 500-1,000 million tons per year are possible. Even today, bio-based bulk chemicals “offer clear savings in non-renewable energy use and green house gas emissions with current technology compared to conventional petrochemical production,” they write.
-read more in B. G. Hermann, K. Blok, and M. K. Patel, “Producing Bio-Based Bulk Chemicals Using Industrial Biotechnology Saves Energy and Combats Climate Change,” Environmental Science & Technology, 41, no. 22 (15 November 2007): 7915-21 (sub. req.)
