Levulinic acid is one of the key elements of the sustainable chemical industry of the future. It is used mainly in agriculture, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics, but also to make bioplastics and biofuels.’

All the chemicals can be derived from renewable carbon sources such as sugar, starch and lignocellulosic biomass. Lignocellulose occurs in abundance in renewable sources like wood and grass and in waste farming and forest products like straw and sawdust. Its major components are two carbohydrate polymers – cellulose and hemicellulose – and the aromatic polymer lignin.