DuPont has evolved from its heritage as a premier chemical and materials company to a science company that uses biology across its different platforms.  DuPont recently set 2015 marketplace sustainability objectives which included (1) doubling our R&D investment in environmentally smart market opportunities (2) growing annual revenues by $2 billion or more from products that create energy-efficiency and/or reduce greenhouse gas emissions, (3) doubling our annual revenues to over $8 billion from products derived from non-depletable resources, and (4) introducing at least 1,000 new safety products or services.  As part of this transformation, DuPont is creating new products and new business models based on renewable resources and biology.  To this end, DuPont has created and staffed a variety of new business units over the last several years to support these new bio-inspired product lines:  DuPont BioBased Materials – Energy & Specialties, DuPont BioBased Materials – Sorona^® & Bio-PDO^TM, DuPont and Tate & Lyle LLC, and DuPont Biofuels in addition to growing our strong product lines in support of agriculture with DuPont’s Pioneer^® Hi-Bred International and DuPont Crop Protection businesses.

This talk will focus on the success factors needed for development of world-class bioprocesses and bioproducts that are both cost and investment competitive along with highlighting some of the technical achievements that DuPont has made with our cellulosic ethanol process, our biobutanol process development efforts, and the startup of our 1,3 propanediol manufacturing plant.