Bioproduct examples
Bioproducts are any products -- fuels, chemicals, raw materials -- made from renewable resources. Instead of depending on the planet's limited supply of nonrenewable resources (petroleum and coal), plant material and municipal and livestock waste -- biomass -- are turned into electricity, fuels, plastics and the basic components of chemical processes.
Below, MSU experts explain how some of society's most necessary products can be made from biomass.
Biofuels
The bioeconomy is about more than biofuels, but the promise and the potential of biofuels for the economy and the environment have captured the attention of politicians, the public and the media like no other bioproduct.
Plant sugars have been fermented into ethanol for hundreds of years. Currently, most ethanol is made from corn grain or sugar cane. Bruce Dale, professor of chemical engineering and materials science and associate director of the Office of Biobased Technologies, is an expert on making ethanol from cellulose, plant stalks, grass, corn cobs and other woody plant parts.
Oils from plants such as canola, sunflowers, corn and soybeans can be converted into biodiesel.
Both ethanol and biodiesel are currently available to consumers, but it can be difficult to find a station that has biofuel pumps. Michigan has a goal to have 1,000 biofuel pumps available by 2008. Both biodiesel and ethanol are available as blends, which means a percentage of ethanol or biodiesel is blended with petroleum fuel to make the final product. For example, E85 is 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline; B20 is 20 percent biodiesel and 80 percent petroleum diesel.
The cost of refining ethanol and biodiesel is considered one of the biggest hurdles to widespread adoption of the biofuels. Compared with petroleum, biomass raw materials are inexpensive. Many of these raw materials are considered waste -- stems and stalks left over after plants are harvested. But the processing costs for turning the biomass into ethanol and biodiesel traditionally have been much higher than the costs for turning crude oil into gasoline and diesel fuel. At $20 per barrel, oil is cheaper to refine than biofuels. But when oil costs $40 per barrel, biofuels are very competitive.
Biofuels not only can reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil, but also produce lower amounts of greenhouse gases when they're used in vehicles.
Biochemicals
Enzymes from plants and microorganisms, as well as bacteria and other microbes, can be used in industrial chemical reactions to make a number of everyday products: glues, cleaners, solvents and plastics. Using biochemicals instead of chemicals derived from petroleum can reduce pollution, increase efficiency, and limit the use of hazardous materials in the manufacture and use of chemicals.
According to research done by the industry, the global market for industrial enzymes is valued at more than $1 billion annually and is growing. Enzymes help bring about and speed up chemical reactions. Enzymes are in laundry detergent to improve stain removal. They convert cellulose to sugar, bleach paper and curdle milk for cheese and yogurt.
Kris Berglund, MAES biochemical processing researcher, helped form Working Bugs, a Webberville-based company that has the Michigan Brewing Company as one of its partners. As the name implies, Working Bugs identifies microbes that could be used in fermentation processes to make products from renewable resources, as well as intermediate chemicals that are then used to make other biobased products.
"The idea is to take one molecule -- succinic acid, for example -- and have a family tree of chemicals and fuel additives that can be made at biorefinery facilities," Berglund said. "We have to have a diversification strategy for biorefineries. Fuels often have the lowest profit margins, so integrating fuels and chemicals in the same production facility makes good business sense."
Bioproducts
As research advances, MSU scientists are discovering that many materials made from petrochemicals can be replaced with materials made from biomass. Sometimes small changes to naturally occurring substances can produce useful and biodegradable alternatives to commonly used products such as packing peanuts and trash bags.
The United States uses 80 million tons of petroleum per year to manufacture plastics. MSU scientists are helping to reduce that number by studying how plastic-like material derived from plants can replace petroplastic. Larry Drzal, professor of chemical engineering and materials science, and other researchers in the MSU Composite Materials and Structures Center are developing composite materials for use in the auto industry by combining nanoclay with bacterial bioplastic (known as polyhydroxyalkanoates or PHA). PHA bioplastic is the only water-resistant plastic made from renewable resources that has potential for automotive applications.
An MSU Extension educator and a forestry scientist are working to develop a line of composite building materials from fiber in manure. So far, the products have met or exceeded industry standards for properties such as strength, stiffness and internal bond. More testing is needed, but the products show much promise.
Cups, forks, spoons, knives, plates, food storage containers, T-shirts and pillows are all being made from corn, and are all biodegradable and compostable. It's hoped that these bioproducts and materials will reduce the amount of plastic products in landfills, as well as produce less waste during production.
