Technical-Economic Assessment-The Missing Piece for Increasing the Attractiveness of Applied Biocatalysis in Ester Syntheses?

Although the current literature describes significant advances in biocatalytic ester syntheses, few industrial plants worldwide are currently producing esters using biocatalysts. Green and sustainable esters can be obtained via a biocatalytic route, including some operational advantages over conventional syntheses. An analysis of the literature revealed that most articles neglect or describe the economic issues generically, without quantitative information. Scaling-up studies are also scarce in this field. The main disadvantage of biocatalysis using immobilized lipases-their cost-has not been studied at the same level of depth as other technical aspects. This gap in the literature is less intense in enzymatic biodiesel production studies and, despite the lack of a strict correlation, enzymatic biodiesel commercial plants are relatively more common. Preliminary techno-economic assessments are crucial to identify and circumvent the economic drawbacks of biocatalytic ester syntheses, opening the way to broader application of this technology in a large-scale context.

Automated summary

Although significant advances have been made in the biocatalytic synthesis of esters, few industrial plants worldwide currently produce esters using biocatalysts. Biocatalytic routes can provide green and sustainable esters with operational advantages over conventional syntheses. However, most literature neglects or generically describes the economic issues, and scaling-up studies are scarce. The cost of immobilized lipases, the main disadvantage of biocatalysis, has not been studied as extensively as other technical aspects. Preliminary techno-economic assessments are crucial to overcome the economic drawbacks and promote wider application of biocatalytic ester syntheses in large-scale contexts.