by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) … The industry must come to grips with the disconnect between feedstock producers and companies that convert feedstocks to products. In petroleum, the oil and gas producers enjoy higher returns than the oil refiners fitting typical economic and financial models of risk and reward. Recent research shows advanced biotechnology must reverse their model.
If you could snap your fingers and change one thing about the Advanced Bioeconomy, what would you change?
In the US oils, fats, sugar and other raw materials are protected to a degree hence the move of many companies from the US to Brazil (low cost sugar) and to SEAsia (low cost lipids). The US needs to rethink these protective programs. And, developers need to be more candid about expected investment returns to investors. The industry needs prudence. READ MORE