BDO, THF and GBL are large-volume industrial chemicals used in a wide range of applications including polymers, paints, adhesives and solvents. The global market for these products currently made from petrochemicals is $4 billion.

BioAmber is a leading manufacturer of bio-succinic acid from renewable feedstock. Bio-succinic acid is a platform chemical that can be used to make a number of products currently made from petrochemicals. The company licensed BDO hydrogenation catalyst technology from DuPont in 2010, which has been further developed with partners Evonik and the Center for Applied Catalysis at Seton Hall University to improve the technology. In parallel, BioAmber and Evonik have started to develop a new generation of BDO catalysts.

BioAmber operates the world’s only dedicated production plant for bio-succinic acid in Pomacle, France with a 350,000-liter commercial scale fermenter. The company, together with Mitsui & Co., has broken ground in Sarnia, Canada on a 17,000-tonne bio-succinic acid plant that will be operational in late 2013, with plans to expand capacity to 34,000 metric tons of succinic acid, and a 23,000-tonne BDO plant in late 2014. BioAmber has plans to build additional succinic acid and BDO plants with Mitsui & Co.