Identifying the Characteristics of Promising Renewable Replacement Chemicals

Although several “renewable” strategies have been recently proposed to produce high-volume as well as new (replacement) chemicals, the identification of good targets for such strategies remains challenging. Such chemicals that are expensive to obtain today from fossil fuel feedstocks would have an advantage if produced cheaply using alternative methods in the future. In this work we identify the characteristics of such potentially promising replacement chemicals. We also identify the characteristic of promising bio-based replacement chemicals that are relatively easy to obtain through bio-conversions. This work provides insights into the development of renewable chemicals to support a sustainable economy.