Recently in R&D Category

Thanks to the Green Underworld Reporter about this green tech company called Itaconix that I have not encountered before.

Based in Hampton Falls, New Hampshire, Itaconix (and its partners Microbia Inc. and the University of Maine) recently received a $1.8m grant from the US Department of Agriculture and Department of Energy to produce green polymers from itaconic acid fermented with sugars extracted from hardwood biomass.

Itaconix just introduced this year its polyitaconic acid-based product line Itaconix Super Absorbent and Itaconix Dispersant, which is produced from fermented itaconic acid with corn glucose as feedstock. With the grant, the company hopes to use waste biomass and lignocellulosic instead of corn as feedstock.

"The research possible through this biomass initiative offers another major step toward sustainability and away from petroleum dependence by allowing us to use biomass wood and not divert corn away from food uses," said John R. Shaw, principal of Itaconix.

Now the question remains: What is itaconic acid?

According to the USDA, polyitaconic acid (PIA) is a water soluble polymer with a wide range of applications including superabsorbents (SAP), anti-scaling agents in water treatments, co-builders in detergents, and dispersants for minerals in coatings.

Itaconic acid was identified as one of the top 12 value added chemicals from biomass in 2004 by the DOE but its polymerization was identified as a key barrier to commercial development. This technical barrier was said to have been overcome by the University of Hampshire researchers which licensed the technology to Itaconix.

PIA is said to be an attractive replacement to the well established petroleum-based polyacrylic acid. According to Itaconix, potential global market for PIA is 1.65m metric tons/year with SAP occupying 67% of the market; 3% adhesives, 9% dispersants; 6% water treatment; 11% detergents; and 4% for new SAP markets.

In order to displace polyacrylic acid, Itaconix said it must reach a production cost below $1.5/Kg using biomass feedstock. PIA has been produced by Itaconix using commercial itaconic acid obtained by the fermentation of dextrose typically derived from corn or rice. Under such non integrated structure, PIA can be produced at a cost of $3/Kg.

Major agribusiness company Cargill is really getting into the green industrial chemicals market aside from its BioFoam polyurethanes; bioplastic from its NatureWorks subsidiary; and the assorted vegetable oil/corn-based chems as well as its biofuels business of course.

This recent announcement is the joint production of vegetable-based coating formulations called TopScreen DS13, which was developed by Cargill's new partner Topchim, a paper and cardboard coating technology company.

TopScreen DS13 is said to be an alternative for polyethylene, paraffin and acrylic resin that are used as resistant water-proof barrier for paper and board applications. It is now being produced by Cargill in its Mairinque's plant in Brazil.

The companies plan to produce more sustainable line of products in Brazil to be used for paper and board applications.

[Photo: water drop by venkane]

No, this is not about Metabolix developing genetically modified tobacco so people can smoke it without having lung cancer.

Metabolix had two announcements last week, the first one is the use of its bioplastic resin Mirel in disposable hospital products; and the other is that Mirel has completed a field trial of genetically engineered tobacco that can potentially be a feedstock source for the company's polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) biobased polymers.

Metabolix has joined Amsterdam-based bioenergy tech company Pharmafilter for the development of bioplastic products such as service ware items, bed pans and trash bags for hospital use. In order to avoid contamination, these products will be disposed of along with the hospital and healthcare wastes using Pharmafilter's waste system, which reduces solid waste first through a grinding station and then through a series of purification steps, including anaerobic digestion.

Outputs are biogas for fuel or power generation, biomass for energy conversion, and clean water.

The initial pilot project is scheduled to begin operation in March 2010 at Delft Hospital in Amsterdam. It will be nice if we can also have this kind of system here in the US, don't you agree?

For Metabolix's tobacco project, the company said it was able to produce 3-5% of PHA-contained tobacco in a 0.8 acres of land. The experiment is said to lay the groundwork for planning and permitting activities for field trials in bioengineered, non-food oilseed and biomass crops producing PHA.

In my opinion, it might be better if they could develop PHA in other non-food crops that is not used to manufacture cancer-causing products.

By the way, this week's news roundup will be temporarily unavailable due to technical difficulties (meaning I was unable to compile news from last week because of travel and school schedules - Sorry!). However, I will be able to post more this week and will hopefully give some wrap-up coverage of last week's oleochemical conference that I attended in Berlin.

Major green chemical news were being announced this week while I'm gone...of course.

Elevance and Myriant both send me a press release on Wednesday, which I'll soon post. Metabolix have two major announcements on their bioplastics; Cargill continues in its biobased industrial chemicals development this time in pulp and paper applications; and for this particular post, an interesting development in the use of algae for industrial chemicals application.

Bioplastic manufacturer Cereplast said this week that they plan to launch a new family of algae-based resins that could hit the market by 2010. The company said it will target the hybrids at the polyolefins market, mainly polypropylene and polyethylene. Cereplast is currently using feedstock such as starches from corn, tapioca, wheat and potatoes and Ingeo PLA for their bioplastic.

"We are still in the development phase, but we believe that this breakthrough technology could result in a significant new line of business in the years to come," said Frederic Scheer, Founder, Chairman and CEO.

The company said they already have direct communication with potential chemical conversion companies that could convert the algae biomass into viable monomers for further conversion into potential biopolymers.

By the way, algae was also a hot topic at the ICIS oleochemicals conference in Berlin that I attended this week. One company remarked that algae will probably be developed more in specialty chemicals than to be used as biofuel feedstock. That might be the case if we see more like that of Cereplast's announcement.

Consultant Neil Burns of US-based Neil A. Burns LLC noted in his presentation that several algae developer are already filing patents on algae-based specialty chemical products. Solazyme is one example, he said. The company filed last year a patent on algae-derived polysaccharides that can be potentially applied as an anti-aging skin care ingredient.

A recent article from Popular Mechanics, by the way, listed down the top five algae developers in the biofuel arena that include Solazyme. Wall Street Journal also wrote an article indicating algae as one of the most promising next generation biofuel feedstock.

Here are more recent updates on algae developments:

• Algal Biomass Organization Provides Comments for U.S. DOE's National Algal Biofuels Technology Roadmap

• LiveFuels Opens Pilot Facility to Accelerate Algae-to-Biofuels Project

• OriginOil Announces the Completion of Phase 1 Research Project with Department of Energy's Idaho National Laboratory

• W2 Energy Begins Negotiations to put Algae Oil Plants in the Caribbean

• Algal Fuels Consortium (AFC) won $2.724M in Australia Government's Development Grant

• Solix Biofuels Signs Agreement With Los Alamos National Laboratory to Develop Algal Oil Extraction Process

• Algae-fueled Car Completes 3,750 Mile Cross Country Tour

[First photo from GreenInc blog, second photo from Sapphire Energy]

Coskata's start-up of its semi-commercial flexible ethanol plant in Madison, Pennsylvania, today showcases the world's first commercially-viable flex ethanol process, according to Coskata officials.

The facility can have as much as 400 million gallons of capacity producing ethanol from numerous non-food based feedstocks such as wood biomass, agricultural waste, sustainable energy crops and construction waste. General Motors, one of Coskata's investors, will continuously test the ethanol produced its Milford Proving Grounds.

GM said it has already produced worldwide more than 5 million flex-fuel vehicles to date.

"In the U.S. alone, there are more than 3.5 million GM flex-fuel cars and trucks on the road. For the 2010 model year, 17 E85-capable flex-fuel vehicles from the Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and GMC brands. GM is on track to make more than half of its vehicle production flex-fuel capable by 2012," said Bob Babik, GM Vehicle Emissions Director.

For Coskata, the next step, according to CEO Bill Roe, is to build full-scale facilities and begin licensing their technology to project developers, project financiers and strategic partners.

"The feedstock flexible nature of the Coskata approach also allows for true geographic flexibility, meaning facilities can be built anywhere a feedstock can be sourced or delivered."

A full scale Coskata plant, he said, will have one of the lowest capital costs in the industry.

"We anticipate being very much in DOE range of 4-5 dollars of installed capacity, and believe us to be unique in this regard," said Roe.

Metabolix announced yesterday about a $350,000 grant from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) to develop biobased biodegradable HDPE-alternative plastic bottle.

The biodegradable resins are expected to be used for blow molded bottles and other containers. Metabolix cites that over 2 million tons/year of high density polyethylene are used for this application as according to the American Plastics Council.

Metabolix seeks to improve formulation of its biobased polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) for this application. Their PHA is currently made from corn.

By the way, this is an opportunity for me to list down other developments in the plastic sector:

• Chinese scientists have developed a cheap, eco-friendly method to extract dyes from wastewater, which can then be used to color plastics (via Royal Society of Chemistry).
  

• USDA researchers have developed chicken feather-derived biodegradable plastic flower pots. Another USDA researchers are also developing polystyrene made from potato, corn or wheat starches.
  

• Researchers from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada are also looking to develop bioplastics (as well as biopesticide and pharmaceuticals) from potato starch.

• Researchers at Queen's University Belfast are pioneering a new technique for the use of banana plants in the production of plastic products.

I'm receiving a lot of updates from the American Chemistry Council's Polyurethanes 2009 technical conference especially about their renewable content technical session.

Here are some presentation tidbits from that session:

• Battelle Memorial Institute reported a versatile approach to making renewable-content flexible foams derived from vegetable oils, animal fats, and fatty acids using between 20% to 40% glycerine.

• Cargill discussed their new BiOH polyol designed for the production of viscoelastic foams with very high renewable content as well as outstanding performance (in furniture applications).

• Troy Polymers talked about recycling scrap flexible polyurethane foams made with soy polyols.

• DuPont and Aragon Elastomers introduced a study of a renewably sourced high performance ingredient for polyurethanes.

• Vertellus Specialty Materials introduced high molecular weight castor oil-derived triols for a wide range of polyurethanes applications.

• Bayer MaterialScience presented about two-component polyurethane coatings for sustainable construction based on waterborne polyurethanes, natural oil polyols, and polyaspartic resins.

I guess green footwear is also a hot topic at the polyurethanes event.

In their footwear technical session, Italy-based Repi reported the introduction of a vegetable oil-based pigment dispersion for color development of shoes. Germany-based DESMA described an innovative color-dosing technology that reduces material requirements while increasing production flexibility - which saves time and energy in one of the shoe industry's most expensive production steps.

Meanwhile, the ACC awarded DuPont for its green innovative polyurethane technology at the event as well. DuPont received the award in the Polyurethane Chemicals category for its Cerenol® Polyol, a family of engineered renewably sourced polyetherdiols that serves as a soft segment ingredient for polyurethanes.

Municipal wastewater solids could be a "hot" biofuel feedstock in the future thanks to continuous developments from companies such as Qteros and Applied CleanTech (ACT).

The companies announced today that they have formed a joint development project for more efficient and low-cost ethanol production using ACT's Sewage Recycling System to produce the waste-based feedstock Recyllose.

Qteros and ACT found that an ethanol production plant can produce 120-135 gallons of ethanol per ton of Recyllose™.

"A typical cellulosic ethanol plant would have to produce roughly 20-30 million gallons per year (MGY) in order to be profitable," says Qteros CEO William Frey. "With the proposed Qteros-ACT process, production with these economics could be viable at a smaller scale."

Qteros said Recyllose improves cellulosic plant operational efficiency by 20% over higher lignin content feedstocks. A wastewater plant that handles 150 million gal/day (serving a population of about 2 million people) is said to be sufficient to supply a smaller-scale ethanol plant with cellulose.

The companies said they are the first to demonstrate commercial success in creating ethanol from the cellulose in municipal and agricultural liquid waste, and to offer a process that all municipalities can use to help reduce expenses.

[Photo caption: Recyllose combustible]

We will soon see a 100% renewable-based content on thermoplastic elastomers being used in automotive parts, electronics and sports equipment.

Arkema said today that it has developed a 100% renewable-based high performance thermoplastic elastomer range using the company's combined castor oil chemistry and bio-based polyol technology.

Arkema's new Pebax® Rnew100 is said to have outstanding mechanical properties, excellent resistance to thermal and ultra-violet ageing. The company's Pebax® Rnew range before was limited to up to 95% plant-based content.

Read my green sports equipment article for more about Arkema's Pebax Rnew in sports equipments. More on castor chemical development in an article I wrote in March!

Several other chemical companies want to jump into the development of biobased succinic acid, and have announced deals this week

German chemical company BASF today announced that it is joining Dutch-based lactic acid producer CSM for the development of biobased succinic acid. The companies plan to produce commercial quantity and volumes in the second quarter of 2010.

On Monday, Japan-based Mitsubishi Chemical has signed a deal with Thailand-based PTT Public Company Ltd. (PTT) for the development of bio-polybutylene succinate, a bio-degradable polymer, made from biomass feedstock.

Mitsubishi already produces and markets polybutylene succinate, a bio-degradable polymer made from petroleum-based succinic acid. Mitsubishi and PTT will jointly begin market research and aims to complete the feasibility study for establishing a joint venture by the end of June in 2010.