Cereal potential

On a glucose molecule basis cereals are a high value material, this coupled with the substantial existing cereals processing infrastructure and the lower costs of dry processing, has made cereals an attractive contender as a raw materials for chemical industry. Despite the clear argument that cereals are the best raw material option for a sustainable chemical industry, at least in the medium term, the current benchmark for economic assessment is oil. In recent years oil costs have increased and cereal production costs decreased, such that the economics are heading in the right direction to favor cereals. Process engineering of cereals will play a key part in the development of sustainable chemical process industries in the 21st century so it has implications for the education of process engineers. It is necessary to begin to raise the profile of cereals as a raw material and make process engineers aware of the issues of handling and processing such a variable and complex raw material.