increase moderately (see Chapter 8), the estimated annual growth rates for the above-mentioned niche technologies are much higher. Microreactors and the SMB separation technology are expected to grow at a rate of even 50–100% per year. The total size of the accessible market typically does not exceed a few hundred tons per year at best. Biotechnology Industrial biotechnology, also called "white biotechnology", is increasingly impacting the chemical industry, enabling both the conversion of renewable resources, such as sugar or vegetable oils, and the more efficient transformation of conventional raw materials into a wide range of commodities (e.g., cellulose, ethanol and succinic acid), fine chemicals (e.g. 6-aminopenicillanic acid), and specialties (e.g., food and feed additives). As opposed to green and red biotechnology, which relate to agriculture and medicine, respectively, white biotechnology seeks to improve the economic and sustainable production of existing products, and provide access to new products, especially biopharmaceuticals. It is expected that revenues from white biotechnology will account for 10%, or $250 billion, of the global chemical market of $2,500 billion by 2013. In ten to 15 years it is expected that most amino acids and vitamins and many specialty chemicals will be produced by means of biotechnology. Three very different process technologies -biocatalysis, biosynthesis (microbial fermentation), and cell cultures- are used. Biocatalysis, a.k.a. biotransformation and bioconversion, makes use of natural or modified isolated enzymes, enzyme extracts, or whole-cell systems for enhancing the production of small molecules. It has much to offer compared to traditional organic synthesis. The syntheses are shorter, less energy intensive and generate less waste, hence are both environmentally and economically more attractive. About 2/3 of chiral products produced on large industrial scale are already made using biocatalysis. In the manufacture of fine chemicals, enzymes represent the single most important technology for radical cost reductions. This is particularly the case in the synthesis of molecules with chiral centres. Here, it is possible to substitute the formation of a salt with a chiral compound, e.g., (+)-α-phenylethylamine, crystallization, salt breaking and recycling of the chiral auxiliary, resulting in a theoretical yield of not more than 50%, with a one step, high yield reaction under mild conditions and resulting in a product with a very high enantiomeric excess (ee). An example is AstraZeneca's blockbuster drug Crestor (rosuvastatin), see Chemical / Enzymatic Synthesis of Crestor. Further examples of modern drugs, where enzymes are used in the synthesis, are Pfizer's Lipitor