The increasing momentum of the global bio-based economy represents an opportunity for the Australian sugar industry to break away from the current dependence on the world sugar price. Following an on-going market and technology watch exercise, the production of hydrogen from sugarcane bagasse and the production of compostable bioplastics (such as PHA) from cane juice were identified as two potentially attractive diversification opportunities for the sugar industry. The current project will investigate the potential application of these two technologies and identify any investment barriers to their application.