Each year more than half a billion tons of oil—more than an eighth of the total global oil consumption—are used to produce chemicals and plastics. The demand for oil leaves the petrochemical industry, with a market value slated to exceed US$758 Billion by 2022, critically exposed to oil price fluctuations and the uncertainty of dependence on a finite fossil resource. Researchers and chemical engineers around the world have been trying to find ways to use alternative raw materials such as agricultural waste or ‘biomass’ to replace petroleum in the production of common industrial chemicals as a step toward a more sustainable chemical industry.