A future perspective on the role of industrial biotechnology for chemicals production

• State-of-the-art in industrial biotechnology for chemicals production.
• Drivers for the implementation of industrial biotechnology.
• Key challenges for further expansion of the industrial biotechnology chemicals sector.

The development of recombinant DNA technology, the need for renewable raw materials and a green, sustainable profile for future chemical processes have been major drivers in the implementation of industrial biotechnology. The use of industrial biotechnology for the production of chemicals is well established in the pharmaceutical industry but is moving down the value chain toward bulk chemicals. Chemical engineers will have an essential role in the development of new processes where the need is for new design methods for effective implementation, just as much as new technology. Most interesting is that the design of these processes relies on an integrated approach of biocatalyst and process engineering.