Green chemistry represents a market opportunity that will grow from $2.8 billion in 2011 to $98.5 billion by 2020, according to a new report from Pike Research.

“Green chemistry markets are currently nascent, with many technologies still at laboratory or pilot scale, and many production-scale green chemical plants are not expected to be running at capacity for several more years,” said Clint Wheelock, president. “However, most green chemical companies are targeting large, existing chemical markets, so adoption of these products is limited less by market development issues than by the ability to feed extant markets at required levels of cost and performance.”

Wheelock added that, while Pike Research anticipates dramatic growth rates for green chemicals during the coming decade, these emerging markets represent a drop in the bucket compared to the $4 trillion global chemical industry. By 2020, the firm expects that the total chemical industry will expand to $5.3 trillion in annual revenues.

Green alternatives in the polymer sector are expected to represent the highest penetration level (5.7%) within the total chemical market, as it is somewhat more developed than the other key sectors. The special, fine, and commodity chemical sectors are more nascent and will enjoy somewhat lower penetration rates during the forecast period.

For more information, visit www.pikeresearch.com.