Panel discussion
Forum, Ground Floor, HotSpot
16 May 2006, 11.00 a.m.

As we continue to deplete worldwide oil and gas reserves over the coming years and consumption in the emerging markets India and China increases at explo-sive rates, there is growing concern about the effects that these developments are likely to have on the chemical and process industries. What will replace oil? What will the raw materials of the future be?

Crude oil and other raw materials are now so expensive that alternative sources of raw materials are becoming viable in the industry. The most attractive option appears to be renewable raw materials to produce biodiesel and bioethanol which have recently attracted considerable public attention. Brazil has been producing bioethanol from sugar beets for a number of years. However, total annual pro-duction in Brazil is still not sufficient to cover worldwide energy demand for a single day.

We are witnessing a revival of familiar technologies including coal gasification, the Fischer-Tropsch process and gas liquefaction. South Africa and China in particular are now using these technologies. There is also growing interest in a combination of coal and biomass as alternative raw materials for Fischer-Tropsch synthesis.

The first step towards the bio-based economy has already been taken. For example biotechnology has now replaced the chemical process which was used to manufacture vitamin B2. Biotechnology offers envi-ronmental and cost advantages which make it an attractive replacement for chemical techniques. Despite substantial cuts in the R&D budget, the European Commission is still planning to invest €2.4 billion in biotechnology according to the 7th framework programme.