(294c) Opportunities and Challenges in the Commercialization of Bioproducts from Biomass and Algae

Thanks to advances in bioprocessing during the last 30 years, biomass and algae have become promising sources of sustainable fuels, chemicals, and biologicals. Fuels include ethanol, biodiesel, and jet fuel for the transportation sector. Chemicals include organic acids that serve as building blocks for manufacturing plastics, resins, films, and other products. Biologicals include a wide variety of nutraceuticals, cosmetics, and enzymes. With the use of industrial microbiology and biotechnology, biomass is enzymatically converted to sugars that are converted to the desirable end product through fermentation by natural or genetically engineered microorganisms, such as bacteria, yeasts, and fungi. In the case of microalgae, photosynthetic species are cultivated in open ponds and photobioreactors to sequester carbon dioxide and synthesize nonpolar lipids for jet fuel and biodiesel, polar lipids for cosmetics, various antioxidants and pigments, as well as protein for animal and fish feed. Like every new technology, sustainable bioproducts face challenges on their way to cost competitiveness, most importantly feedstock production and consistency, process scalability, water and energy utilization, and life-cycle sustainability. The presenter will review those issues and share his experience from partnering with industry and venture capital to close technology gaps, generate and protect intellectual property, and stimulate entrepreneurship and commercial deployment.