If advocates of industrial biotech get their way, chemical companies could soon be adding products such as corn and soybeans to their raw material needs. A wave of projects is under way with the aim of converting renewable resources into industrial chemicals. Developments in enzymatic biocatalysis are already enabling the production of new materials that have better characteristics than existing products. Bioprocesses also have the potential to produce existing chemicals at lower cost. The benefits of bioprocessing include better and more economical products; reliable, cheaper feedstocks; and more environmentally-friendly products and processes. There is a potential market of up to $1000 bn for bio-based materials. The percentage of chemical sales that depend on biotech could rise from the current 5% to 10-20% by 2010. The big change will be the growing importance of biotech processes in the manufacture of bulk chemicals, polymers, and speciality chemicals. Cargill has biobased chemical sales of over $100 M but this figure is expected to grow rapidly as new bioprocesses are commercialised. The economics are favourable, as feedstock costs are mostly stable, and production costs are dropping quickly with improvements in biocatalysis and process technology. Codexis has partnerships with several chemical companies to develop bioprocesses for chemicals, but its main focus is currently on pharmaceutical projects. DuPont's target is 25% of revenues coming from products made using renewable materials by 2015. Companies including Cargill and DuPont are also involved in projects financed by the Department of Energy to develop routes to produce chemicals from corn and other renewable feedstocks. DOE's main push is to lower the cost of ethanol for fuel.