An Exploding Global Market

Performance Plants Inc. (PPI) is in a pivotal position to lead the world with its proven suite of products in two distinct but complementary industries – food production and renewable clean bioenergy.

Food and Agricultural Crops

Its widely recognized that new traits developed through biotechnology will be important to address challenges posed by population increase, climate change, abiotic stress, depletion of aquifers, water shortages and the decline of arable farm land. Initial acceptance of biotechnology food crops has steadily grown in both the developed and developing world since 1996. 

• In 2008, more than 200 million acres of biotechnology crops were grown in 17 countries.
• In North America, 85% of soybean, 90% of cotton, 75% of corn and 80% of canola production is based on crops developed through biotechnology.
• The global market for plant biotechnology-based products, which currently comprises sales of seed of herbicide tolerant (HT) or insect resistant (IR) crops, has annually increased by 15% to $9.0 billion.

Bioenergy

Fuels from biomass represent a massive global business opportunity unlike any in recent history. The twin drivers of market demand and government mandates have accelerated the emphasis on biomass for both liquid and solid fuels.

Liquid biofuels refocused: The debate on food-vs-fuel is over and grain-based ethanol will be supplemented with purpose-grown non-food biomass crops for cellulosic ethanol or butanol production. At the same time, government-mandated ethanol content in gasoline in North America points to demand that will increase for decades.

• The US Department of Energy (DOE) reported that land resources in the US are capable of producing 1.3 billion tons of biomass per year and displacing 30% or more of the country’s present petroleum consumption.
• Cellulosic ethanol plants are currently under development in the USA with a capacity of 400 million gallons per year.
• By 2022, the market for cellulosic ethanol is expected to reach 21.6 billion gallons annually (11.4 billion gallons from purpose-grown feedstocks).

Solid fuel revival: Large-scale coal replacement by purpose-grown biomass delivers a 90% reduction in greenhouse emissions by industrial users and open up profitable new opportunities for many farmers.

• Current global coal consumption is estimated at 3.0+ billion tons and is growing at 4.5% annually.
• Replacing 1 ton of coal with biomass reduces carbon dioxide emissions by 3 tons.