Direct biological production of Propylene

09-Dec-14

Global Bioenergies has succeeded in the production of bio-sourced propylene by direct fermentation. It is the first time ever an entirely biological production process - i.e. without any chemical step - is reported for propylene, a central building block for the manufacturing of plastics. Over 80 mln metric tons of propylene are produced yearly, corresponding to a market exceeding US$100 bln. Propylene is so far only produced through fossil resources and principally obtained from naphtha cracking. Thomas Buhl, Head of Business Development at Global Bioenergies comments: "Because of the decrease in naphtha cracking capacities, there is a needfor alternative routes to light olefins, and i n particular to propylene. By developing this process to bio-propylene, we are contributing to building a better world, sustainable and environment friendly." After isobutene in 2010 and butadiene earlier this year, Global Bioenergies has announced having created a proprietary prototype strain able to convert glucose into propylene at laboratory scale. This is the first time ever such a direct biological production of propylene has been reported.