Bio-Based Economy refers to the innovation in utilization of biomass to sustainably make bio-based products such as chemicals, materials, fuel and energy.  It is an attempt to move away from reliance on depleting resources and rely on renewable, bio-based feedstocks. Traditionally, chemicals have been made from petroleum feedstocks. Although chemical production only accounts for 5%–7% of petroleum consumption, petroleum sources represent over 98% of chemical feedstocks.  The advantages for moving to renewable feedstocks include an opportunity for innovation and a chance to take advantage of nature’s ability to perform exquisitely selective chemistry.  Petrochemical feedstocks provide very simple hydrocarbons, which chemists have learned to make more complex. Natural feedstocks are inherently different. They are complex molecules, and chemists are still developing elegant ways to efficiently transform them into useful products.