Bio-based chemicals under environmental scrutiny

Bio-based chemicals made from renewable materials are helping to reduce the chemical industry's dependence on fossil fuels. But without vast improvements, some bio-based processes won't be any kinder to the environment than their petrochemical equivalents - as a new study on bio-based glutamic acid and its potential industrial products demonstrates.

Glutamic acid is an amino acid needed to make other useful molecules, including chemicals involved in plastics production. Researchers at the University of Wageningen in the Netherlands compared the environmental impact of producing four industrial chemicals from glutamic acid isolated from vinasse - a by-product of sugar beet processing - with petrochemicals.  More...

http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/News/2011/September/23091102.asp