Process Engineering Accelerating an Economic Industrialization Towards a Bio-Based World

The transition towards a bio-based world is a challenging undertaking. This perspective paper, from an engineering point of view, aims to provide an overview of existing projects and academic disciplines highlighting the potential benefit of increased interdisciplinary exchanges. Furthermore, the current utilization of biomass to produce biogas is discussed, including an economic assessment, showing the need for new strategies of biomass valorization. One solution could be the development of separation processes for the isolation of secondary plant metabolites, which have been especially valuable for pharmaceutical applications, e.g., taxotere (®) and artemisinin. The economic feasibility is demonstrated in a case study, evaluating the purification potential of curcuminoids from Curcuma longa L. Subsequently, the conclusion discusses the limitations of large-scale industrial applications and the need for new separation techniques as a step towards a bio-based world.