Isobutene : the beginning

Global Bioenergies was created to develop a process for converting plant-based feedstocks into isobutene. Isobutene is traditionally derived from oil and has a global market of around 15 million tonnes.

The molecule is composed exclusively of carbon and hydrogen atoms and is widely used in the energy and materials industries as well as in cosmetics.

Producing bio-sourced isobutene poses a considerable technical challenge that has taken 12 years of intensive R&D to solve. Global Bioenergies now has a cutting-edge process that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by around two-thirds compared to the oil-based equivalent.

The green isobutene produced by Global Bioenergies can provide two environmental benefits: reduction of greenhouse gases and replacement of oil with plant-based feedstocks.

Three isobutene molecules combined together form isododecane. This derivative is useful in several markets including cosmetics and energy

“From Biotech to Beauty”

Global Bioenergies’ disruptive innovation marks a key step forward in the quest for naturalness in the cosmetics industry.

Longwear make-up

A quarter of all cosmetics products claim to be “longwear”. What these products all have in common is isododecane. It is proportionately the biggest ingredient in longwear cosmetics, typically comprising 25-50% by volume of these formulations. Cosmeticians across the world use the unique properties of this ingredient, previously only derivable from petro-chemicals, to achieve longwear performance, water resistance and “kiss-proofing”, without compromising comfort. Longwear make-up sells around a billion units annually, a market worth some €10 billion.

Global Bioenergies’ bio-sourced isododecane is unique in this market. It frees makers of longwear cosmetics from their dependency on oil and means they can claim their products are more than 90% natural.

An alternative to silicons and a strategic replacement in water-rinsed products

As well as being an essential ingredient in longwear make-up, isododecane has other uses in the cosmetics industry, as an emollient – to make skin softer and more supple – or as a solvent – to dissolve other substances or the main active ingredients. This means it is present in very many face creams and hair products, including shampoo. In these applications, it does the same job as silicon. However, in 2018, the European Commission decided to heavily restrict the silicon content of wash-off products because of the risks they posed to the environment, particularly the aquatic environment. The restriction on volatile silicons, which took effect in 2020 for wash-off products and should eventually be extended to other product categories, is driving substantial growth in the isododecane market*.

* A 2019 consultants’ report commissioned by Global Bioenergies suggests the market will grow fourfold by 2025.

History

Environment

Isododecane as an aviation biofuel

Air transport is one of the few energy-intensive industries to make almost no use of renewable energy, mainly because of physical restraints, which rule out the other kinds of solutions applicable to road transport such as ethanol or electric power.

The few solutions that do exist are based on vegetable oil, particularly palm oil, and come with a risk of deforestation, which undermines the promised environmental benefits. Renewable kerosene based on industrial sugars is not yet mature as a technology and requires disruptive innovations.

Isododecane can be mixed with the kerosene currently used by jet aircraft in proportions of up to 50%, which makes it one of the few practicable solutions for reducing air transport pollution.

For this market to evolve, the right conditions need to be in place to make bio-sourced isododecane commercially competitive with fossil kerosene. These conditions could be achieved if a number of elements fall into place:

improvements to the process in order to reduce costs;
legislation that incentivises the use of biofuels, following in the footsteps of Norway, which has pioneered this approach, and France, whose 2021 budget introduced incentives designed to make jet fuel 1% bio-sourced by 2025.
a rise in oil and hence kerosene prices.