Burning Bio News

The Dearborn-based company’s vehicles are now on average 85 percent recyclable by weight. That means they are made of everything from recycled metal to soy and bio-based seat cushions and seatbacks. Such advances mean more than green bragging rights for big corporations to impress the tree hugging crowd. Ford saved approximately $4.5 million by using recycled materials in 2009.

A white roof reflects heat and cools a building; a dark one absorbs it. But until now there hasn’t been a material that could do both. But a new ’smart’ roof coating - rather amazingly, made from waste cooking oil from fast food restaurants - can ‘read’ a thermometer and switch between roles. The coating is produced by processing waste cooking oil into a liquid polymer that hardens into a plastic after application. Tests on the new coated asphalt shingles showed that they could reduce roof temperatures by up to 80 percent in warm weather - and warm it by the same amount when the weather is cold.

Pharmaceutical companies could substantially reduce the expense of costly treatments for cancer and other diseases produced from mammalian or bacterial cells by growing these human therapeutic proteins in algae. “What surprised us was that of the seven genes chosen, four expressed proteins at levels sufficient for commercial production,” said Stephen Mayfield, a professor of biology at the University of California, San Diego.

ZeaChem Inc., a developer of biorefineries for the conversion of renewable biomass into fuels and chemicals, announced it has produced bio-based acetic acid at the purity concentration level of a salable product. Acetic acid is a commercial product and is also ZeaChem’s intermediate building block for the production of cellulosic ethanol and bio-based chemicals. “ZeaChem’s biggest fermentation hurdles are now behind us and we have significantly de-risked future integrated operations”.

Kansas State University Researcher, Susan Sun’s work on sustainable biomass adhesives has already lead to an edible barrel for cattle feed made with straw and soy adhesive. More products are on the horizon, including a new formula that improves the flowability and strength of raw bioplastic, making it easier to pour and mold. Sun’s research team is focusing on adhesives made from the by-products of soybean, corn, and sorghum among other biofuel crops. The idea is to develop high-value products that can compete with conventional products, to boost the cost-effectiveness of biofuel crops overall.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is amending its Guidelines for Designating Biobased Products for Federal Procurement, to add nine sections to designate items within which biobased products will be afforded Federal procurement preference, as provided for under section 9002 of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002, as amended by the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (FCEA) (referred to in this document as “section 9002”). USDA also is establishing a minimum biobased content for each of these items. –mj: These BioPreferred Rules come as close to ideal between commercial product regulations and waste remediation regulations. They should become the foundation of all US carbon policy.

Although biomass is typically associated with power, fuel and chemical applications, it also has a natural ability to sop up oil spills on highways, antifreeze on driveways and spilled paint. Nature’s Broom, a company based in Hollandale, MS, uses waste agricultural and forestry materials to produce a 97 percent biobased liquid spill absorbent that meets the USDA’s BioPreferred program product qualifications.

Two U.S.-based renewable biochemical companies said they are planning a partnership, with Blue Marble Energy producing high-margin biochemicals from microalgae supplied by Bionavitas. Redmond, Wash.-based Bionavitas developed what it has branded as Light Immersion Technology, which it says enables the speedy and cost-effective production of algae for environmental remediation, manufacturing health and nutraceutical products, and producing biofuels.

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., is co-sponsoring a bill with Sens. John Tester, D-Mont., Max Baucus, D-Mont., Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and Tom Udall, D-N.M., that would promote the implementation of biochar production technologies using excess plant biomass on public land. The Water Efficiency via Carbon Harvest and Restoration Act of 2009 (WECHAR) would establish U.S. Department of Interior and USDA loan guarantee programs to develop biochar demonstration projects, including mobile and fixed biochar production units. – mj: This appears to me to be a bit unprecedented. The benefits of biochar are still being quantified. Since EPA prohibits biomass from public lands in the RFS regulations, this bill does just the opposite and ties up the public land biomass for biochar once we understand the benefits. (?)

Good Housekeeping, known as a benchmark in product testing, announced the first products to earn the “Green Good Housekeeping” seal this past week. The first round of testing included seven beauty and household cleaning products.

The University of Delaware will receive $400,000 over the next four years to conduct research on the conversion of biomass to fuels through the National Science Foundation’s Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation (EFRI) program. This year’s program funded 43 projects in two areas: BioSensing and BioActuation (BSBA) and Hydrocarbons from Biomass (HyBi).The work will capitalize on the infrastructure provided by the Institute on the Environment at the University of Minnesota and the Center for Catalytic Science and Technology at University of Delaware.

BioBased Technologies LLC of Fayetteville, AR, filed for Chapter 11 reorganization on Sept. 1, documents filed with the Western District of Arkansas US Bankruptcy Court show. BioBased is best known for its soy-based spray foam insulation, its primary consumer product, which was used in many homes built in northwest Arkansas over the past several years. It also manufactures Agrol, a family of bio-based polyols for use in polyurethane products such as rigid and flexible molded foam.

BioDimensions and the Memphis Bioworks Foundation have launched a massive strategic plan for green jobs in the Mid-South. In cooperation with Battelle, the Regional Strategy for Biobased Products in the Mississippi Delta details the potential for 25,000 green jobs in the next decade in the Mid-South. The study also concluded that sustainably grown and harvested biomass in the region can supply an $8 billion biofuels and biobased products industry without affecting the food and feed supply.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has published a proposed rule that seeks to establish a voluntary labeling program for biobased products. Any biobased products that meet USDA minimum biobased content requirements are eligible for the label. These requirements are broken down into two groups: Products in designated item categories: these are biobased products that meet percent biobased content standards for the product categories set up by the BioPreferred preferred procurement program. Products not within designated categories: biobased products that do not fall into one of the designated item categories must meet a 51 percent content requirement, unless USDA approves an alternative minimum biobased content. BioPreferred encourages interested parties to submit comments on the proposed rule until Sept. 29, 2009. To submit comments go to http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2009/E9-17610.htm.

Alice Pilgeram and David Sands, of the Biobased Products Institute, Montana State University, were looking for alternative uses for camelina meal–the part of the plant that is leftover when the oil is extracted for bio-fuels. Peterson tested the camelina meal and discovered that it had high amounts of peroxidase, an enzyme that when combined with hydrogen peroxide neutralizes phenols. Phenols are the chemical compounds that give manure its odor. Brekke Peterson, a Plant Pathology graduate student at MSU, Her research is directed at enhancing the nutritional attributes of camelina meal, but she is also doing applied research odor suppressants and product development in soaps.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is making it easier for consumers to identify biobased products through the release of its proposed BioPreferredSM labeling rule. Currently, USDA has identified more than 15,000 commercially available biobased products across approximately 200 categories, from cleaning products to construction materials. When final, this regulation will allow biobased product manufacturers to participate in a voluntary labeling program to identify biobased products on retail store shelves. –mj: One of the great benefits of the USDA BioPreferred Program; the government funded the establishment of these marketing standards and now industry will be able to capitalize on them.

Agricultural Utilization Research Institute (AURI) was created and funded by the Minnesota Legislature to foster long-term economic benefit through increased business and employment opportunities to rural Minnesota. They were charged to do this through: expansion of markets for ag commodities, ingredients and products; development of new uses or value for MN ag commodities; and development of renewable energy opportunities. AURI will be celebrating its first two decades of service by sponsoring a food drive for Minnesota food shelves in August and September at the annual Farmfest celebration in Redwood County, Minn. AURI is a state-funded nonprofit organization that operates in part through federal grants and partnership agreements with commodity groups. It was born out of the lean years in the 1980s, a time when finding new markets for ag products could be particularly helpful in offsetting farm losses. AURI is a great resource www.auri.org .

Scientists have discovered a remarkable, unexpected and cheap way to store hydrogen fuel– using carbonized chicken feather fibers. The storage of hydrogen requires cost-prohibitive containers. Scientists at the University of Delaware, while using keratin from feathers for microcircuitry, found that the keratin fibers rivaled the strength of nanotubes. In addition to hydrogen storage, the new method could turn 2.7 billion kg of chicken feather fibers produced each year into a number of other eco-products like hurricane resistant roofing, lightweight car parts, as well as the aforementioned bio-based computer circuit boards.

The USDA, National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research, Peoria, IL, will receive $40.1 million in stimulus funding to upgrade the facility that opened in 1940. The lab has developed a number of new food products that have expanded markets for U.S. cereal crops. One of those products, Calorie-Trim, is an all-natural fat replacer. Derived from whole oats and barley, C-Trim contains 20 to 50 percent beta-glucan, a soluble fiber that helps the body regulate blood sugar and lower bad cholesterol, diminishing the risk of heart disease. The funding goes for critical deferred maintenance that addresses mechanical, electrical and plumbing needs at many of our facilities.

Williston-based Vermont Organics Reclamation has developed a biomass development business plan that includes redistributing biomass sources with end uses that make economic sense. The futuristic part of their planning would involve the acquisition or extension of rail sidings in a variety of locations around the state, for the placement of collection cars that would then transport recyclable organic materials to a central facility they have begun to put together in St Albans, VT.