Agriculture and Bio-Based Industries boom expected
During a keynote address at the BIO World Congress conference, Steen Riisgaard, CEO of Novozymes, unveiled the new report by the World Economic Forum (WEF) "The Future of Industrial Biorefineries,” . The report concludes that converting biomass into fuels, energy, and chemicals has the potential to generate upwards of $230 billion to the global economy by 2020. Authored by professor Sir David King of Oxford University, the report also found that with expanded large-scale biorefinery production, dependence on fossil fuels could be dramatically reduced.
Today, the biorefinery industry is in early development, however, according to the WEF report, governments and businesses across a range of sectors are recognizing the potential economic boom that exists in biorefining. For example, by the year 2020:
– The biofuels market alone is estimated to more than triple by 2020, with combined sales of $95 billion
– The demand for biomass to generate heat and power is expected to more than double
– Bio-based products will accumulate $15 billion in revenues
– Bio-based chemicals are expected to grow significantly and increase its share in overall chemicals production to an estimated nine percent of all chemicals
– Production of biomass within the farm gate is estimated at $90 billion—the largest business potential in the value chain
"We need an energy replacement that comes at oil's low price, but without its high environmental cost,” said Riisgaard. "Over time, cars, trucks, and even airplanes are going to run on sustainable low-carbon fuels derived from biomass. Plastics and chemicals will be made from plants rather than petroleum. As a result, biorefineries will infuse billions of dollars into the economy and create more than 800,000 new jobs."