Energy seems to be one of the major themes here at BIO: biofuels like biodiesel and ethanol from corn and cellulose (do we have President Bush to thank for this?).

I went to one very full session this morning that helped expand my awareness of bioprocessing. Speakers talked about all the other industrial chemicals, beyond ethanol, that can be made from biological, renewable sources: propylene glycol (used in a wide range of foods, cosmetics and other products), acrylic acid (used in plastics manufacture), butanol (a potential fuel) and many others.

Cargill, the food and agriculture giant moving into doing more industrial chemicals, announced today that it, in collaboration with Ashland, a chemical and petroleum company, is building a new plant to produce propylene glycol from glycerin, a byproduct of biodiesel production. As more biodiesel is being made, the companies are expecting a glut of glyerin on the market. So it’s interesting to see that as a few chemical companies slowly move towards nonpetroleum-based products, it’s spawning the production of more chemicals from these “green” sources.

One French company, Metabolic Explorer, was making the case for butanol as a more efficient source of energy than ethanol that can replace diesel and be added to gasoline, though the cost is still too high.

One thing that wasn’t discussed was the benefits of nonpetroleum sources for carbon emissions and climate change. Because in the end, that’s what really matters, doesn’t it?