Plastic Out of Leaves : Industrial Biotechnology, A Challenge to the Oil Industry
2010.05.13
Visionaries :
- John PIERCE [Chief BioScientist, BP]
- Do-Young Seung [Senior Vice President & Director, R&D Center, GS Caltex Corp.]
- Oliver P. PEOPLES [Co-founder & Chief Scientific Officer, Metabolix]
Symposiarch :
- Sang-Yup Lee [Dean & Distinguished Professor, Dept of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, KAIST]
From powering our automobiles, to plastics for countless everyday goods, the petrochemical industry has anchored the advancement of our civilization over the past century and more.
Petrochemicals have also been singled out, however, as the main culprit threatening our sustainability due to its role in global warming.
Can industrial biotechnology, which makes it possible to produce infinite energy and materials out of corn, trees, and weeds, eventually render the petrochemical industry obsolete?