Impact of local conditions on bio‐based chemical process design: selection of input feedstock and production scale and scenario

Abstract

Economic incentive is an important driving force for the implementation of bio‐based chemical industry. The economic performance of a bio‐based chemical process is influenced strongly by the input biomass feedstock and production scale and scenario that must be selected with respect to the local conditions, such as the availability, distribution, and transportation distance of biomass feedstocks, which differ according to regional productivity, regional production scale, and geographical distribution of biomass resources. In this study, by assessing the economic indicator, we examine the impact of local conditions on the selection of input feedstock and production scale and scenario on the design of bio‐based chemical processes. Considering the local conditions of Vietnam and Japan, the economic performance of a bio‐based chemical process producing ethyl acetate is evaluated. The results show that the conditions in Vietnam, which has low productivity and wide distribution of biomass feedstocks, have a stronger impact on the economic viability of bio‐based chemical plants. In Japan, fewer options for feedstock selection are provided, but larger production scale and lower production cost can be achieved. © 2015 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 35: 174–182, 2016

What Drives a Future German Bioeconomy? A Narrative and STEEPLE Analysis for Explorative Characterisation of Scenario Drivers

“…Connecting the identified drivers of the STEEPLE analysis of the 21 international bioeconomy peer-reviewed scientific studies, project reports, and scenario studies [2,8,[40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58] and of the narrative analysis, shows that, at the minimum, in one study, at least two drivers could be found (see Figure 2). Based on this assessment, it can be stated that the identified drivers from the strategy are also those used in present scientific discourse.…”