In Ohio, Cooper Tire & Rubber Company announced that PanAridus will join the company and its consortium partners on a previously-announced $6.9 million Biomass Research and Development Initiative grant toward development of guayule plant-based polymers for use in tire manufacturing. PanAridus has worked to uncover means for growing a higher yield of domestically grown guayule […]
Goodbye, wild plant, full of promise. Hello, domesticated and optimized plant-soldier in the struggle to make rubber for a planet with limited acreage and rapidly-expanding demand. In biofuels and related industries, there may be a hundred feedstocks or so. Some developed, some merely domesticated, some hardly improved over the wild types in the field. 100 […]
In Ohio, OSU’s Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC) has received a $5.7 million grant from the DOE’s ARPA-E for a project that will boost the biodiesel capacity of guayule and sweet sorghum. The two feedstocks naturally produce farnesene, an oil which is easily converted to fuel; Chicago-based Chromatin Inc will be leading the […]
In Japan, Bridgestone Corporation announced their plans for a U.S. based research project to develop guayule as a commercially viable, renewable source of high-quality natural rubber and as an alternative to the Hevea tree. Bridgestone Americas will be responsible for finding a suitable location and operating both the pilot farm, and the research facility. The […]
In the United Kingdom, Zone3 will soon introduce the world’s first biodegradable wetsuit. Made from Terraprene, a biobased thermoplastic elastomer produced by Germany’s FKuR, the £399 wetsuit is part of Zone3’s Vision line of triathalon gear. Tests have shown that about 30% of the wetsuit breaks down after two years in a landfill. Wetsuits are […]
In Indiana, Bridgestone Americas (Bridgestone) announced recently that major strides have been made during the offseason to incorporate more sustainable and bio-circular materials into the 2023 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season, highlighting the advancement of three key initiatives that will make the upcoming season the most sustainable to date for America’s premier open-wheel racing series. As […]
In France, the next City of Lights might just be illuminated by bioluminescent bacteria for an eco-friendly solution. And a new packaging alternative made from calcium carbonate, a naturally occurring material found in rocks, eggshells, and gastropods, is being launched in Florida. McD’s is getting on the bio-bandwagon too with their biobased cups pilot in […]
Increase agricultural production while decreasing environmental footprint – that’s the goal in a nuthsell, but check out this slide guide on 5 key USDA themes, USDA’s latest innovation contributions like a new sustainable diesel fuel additive modified from Tung Oil, a guayule plant concept tire, pennycress potential, and more.
Sustainable Bioeconomy for Arid Regions (SBAR) is a multi-level research project that will cultivate two desert-dwelling crops, guayule and guar, for a sustainable bioeconomy. Combined, guayule (perennial) and guar (annual) feedstocks can provide biomass year round for biofuel production. Both crops are drought and heat tolerant, grow on marginal lands, and provide economic returns. Scale […]
In Washington, ABLC 2018 opens amidst a flutter of government rollbacks of deployment support but the hope of regulatory relief, breakthroughs in financial structuring, a decisive shift in early-stage projects to nutrition & health, and an increasing number of deployments in advanced biofuels and a surge in exports and overseas expansion for corn ethanol. On […]
