As much more each mine produces its own recipe

Surrounded by the Rhine, downtown Friedrichshafen and forests, the most important chemical site in the world of BASF (1.038 football grounds) style smooth. The hurried visitor sees that a giant mikado of 2,000 kilometres of pipes, tanks, pipes and consoles all kinds, travelled by 40,000 employees. A terribly complicated machinery of 400 units able to regurgitate 8,000 different molecules, virtually from a single source: oil.

Like its competitors, the world number one begins rehabilitation. A small dose. "In our two vapocraqueurs we consume 2 million tonnes of naphtha." "Ton of derivative of oil currently costs 600 euros against 210 euros in 2001", said Stefan Marcinowski, Executive Director of the research. If the price of a barrel continues his rise in the coming years, "descent" can be damn painful. BASF is therefore paid a "therapy" EUR 260 million over two years. Its laboratories were invited to floor on two cross-cutting topics, change of raw materials (EUR 100 million) and white biotechnologies (160 million euros).

Chemists say much embarrassed, the tracks are few. The molecules contained in oil are a formidable clay in which all the production chain carved its products: 90 of the products comes from black gold, via refineries while only 3 of the crude is used by the chemical industry.

For BASF, the most obvious alternative, it is natural gas, already operated for acetylene and ammonia. Chemists to criticize the low reactivity of its main molecule, methane. In contrast, the other constituents, ethane, butane and propane have more interesting molecular masses but remain in concentrations too low, less than 10 of the gas. New catalysts boosting however his interest in increasing the selectivity of the dehydrogenation, thereby reducing losses. Propene, 60 produced from naphtha, will come more and more gas (currently 2). BASF and Linde are passed in a few years of experimental reactor from 10 centimeters to 6 meters driver.

As the energy sector, chemists at new continental coal. Unlike oil, coal is abundant and promises a few centuries of supply. On the other hand has the unfortunate property of containing a complex cocktail of very heterogeneous molecules. As much more each mine produces its own recipe. Technologies already exist to transform coal into intermediates, but their cost is prohibitive. Gasification (more), liquefaction (from hundreds of bars) or coke (electricity) only offers if the price of oil increases. Unless the development of new catalysis does allow, for example, to reduce the necessary reactions pressure.

Chemists are not more excited about this third alternative to oil is biomass. They allege that the vegetation a too low energy density, its heterogeneity and the large concentration of salts and its combustion ash. The classical reactions work poorly. Can not the carbonate directly and the H2 on CO report is adverse. Finally, downstream, chemical processes are at high pressures.

This is why chemistry groups invest little little white biotechnology who promise to better exploit the biomass. It should be noted that micro-organisms working in the living conditions: temperature, pressure, acidity are easier to implement. Fermentations know produce polymers, proteins (enzymes), or chemical intermediates.

Manufacture proteins

In the field of polymers, industrial progress, such as Cargill that produces 140 tonnes of PLA. This plastic is suitable for some applications such as packaging but does no more than 60 degrees Celsius, said Oskar Zelder, specialist at BASF. The next step will be the synthesis of semi-crystalline PHB and PHA polyesters. The US company will open in 2008 a plant capable of producing 50,000 tons of PLA. On these issues, BASF moves in observer but invests even several tens of millions of euros in research. For the Germans, the biotechnological method for the production of PHB is too expensive. It involves eleven steps against five from propylene. A single tonne of PHB also requires about 20 tonnes of solvents, expensive to recycle. To reduce costs, it tests a new technology that uses the glycerol, a low-cost by-product of biodiesel with Siemens.

BASF also tests the white biotechnologies to make proteins. Modified Microfungi produce enzymes that make the more stable rearing to heat food. The chemist will assess another protein that enhances binding of cosmetics on the skin or hair with a client. Another Biocatalysis technology should soon lead to a monomer for automotive paints. It would replace the classical production, very slow process and using harmful products.

BASF does not hide his skepticism about the potential of these alternative resources: "new technologies will be best for 10-20," warns Oskar Zelder. For him, this estimate of consultants is very optimistic because it takes into account the biofuels, "which are not chemistry" slice. Last year, biotechnologies have generated EUR 400 million of activity in the German industrial, which essentially with classic synthesis of certain vitamins. A drop of water in an ocean of oil of 43 billion euros..