Newsletter Archive

Cargill Dow, LLC recently inaugurated a new biorefinery facility in Blair, NE. The facility marks the beginning of a new era in biobased products. It will use corn-derived dextrose to produce 140,000 tons per year of polylactide (PLA) polymers for fibers and plastic packaging. Overall, Cargill Dow has invested more than $750 million in the business and production facility.

While a number of large multi-national companies have been working on bioplastics for almost 20 years, the inauguration of the Blair biorefinery is a milestone. The Blair plant is the first facility of its scale, the first devoted entirely to PLA products, and the first to take cutting-edge technology into the mainstream. The plant far exceeds Cargill Dow's previous production levels of 8,000 tons of PLA per year.

This technology allows the company to "harvest" the carbon that living plants remove from the air through photosynthesis. Carbon is stored in plant starches, which can be broken down into natural plant sugars. The carbon and other elements in these natural sugars are then used to make NatureWorks™ PLA, which reaches the consumer in clothes, cups, packaging and many other everyday products. Ultimately, Cargill Dow technology will use other bio raw material sources, as well, such as residues from wheat and sugar beet production.

A Bright Future for Bio-based Products

Cargill Dow will employ up to 100 workers in the Blair biorefinery and plans to build additional capacity every 18-24 months by expanding this facility or its other plants in the US, Europe and Asia. The company's goal is to produce one billion pounds per year of PLA plastics by 2010.

The figures for the industry as a whole are even more optimistic. Projections anticipate a bio-plastics sales volume of 8 billion pounds a year by 2020. This is more than 10% of the current market for plastics in the U.S. According to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, this would reduce carbon dioxide emissions 10 million tons annually by 2020.

"Cargill Dow PLA plastics are price competitive with fossil fuel-based plastics, but offer superior performance characteristics," says Randy Howard, president and CEO of Cargill Dow, LLC. "What's exciting about this technology is that it performs, has a multitude of applications and it's from a renewable resource like corn."

Public Private Partnerships at Work

The R&D, which is leading to new opportunities for biobased products, is, in part, due to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). DOE awarded Cargill Dow more than $2 million for continued research and development of the company's fermentation process for utilization of renewable resources. The funding was awarded in support of the Biomass R&D Act of 2000 and the proceeding Executive Order to triple the use of biobased products and bioenergy by 2010.

In testimony before the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, Patrick R. Gruber, Ph.D., vice president and chief technology officer for Cargill Dow, described DOE funding as instrumental in technological progress in the field. "Government funding has helped us. We push the technologies further than we would have the appetite to do by ourselves because of the risk involved," Gruber testified. This cost-shared R&D is accelerating development in biobased technologies and opening new opportunities for consumers and industry.

As an incentive for developing biopower technologies, the state has set up a low-interest-loan program to encourage active biomass energy projects. The state has also conducted a workshop celebrating ethanol and discussing its future. This workshop has encouraged three regions within Idaho to evaluate the possibilities for ethanol use.

In 2000, the state launched a five-year effort to educate the dairy and livestock industries on anaerobic digestion processes and help them build these technologies into their everyday operations. The goal of the endeavor is to install five anaerobic digestion facilities at Idaho dairies in the Magic Valley by 2005. To access the Idaho state fact sheet, visit: http://www.bioproducts-bioenergy.gov

Assistant Secretary David Garman Speaks at Two Midwestern Conferences
Assistant Secretary of EERE, David Garman, attended two regional conferences in early April, and spoke in support of biomass energy as an important way to enhance our nation's energy security. At an energy meeting in Sioux Falls, SD, held on April 5, discussion covered topics such as ethanol, biodiesel, wind and solar power, making plastics and fibers out of corn, and ways to conserve energy at home. At the second annual Wind Power and Bioenergy Conference, held in Oklahoma City, OK on April 11, tutorial sessions were held on various biomass topics, such as ethanol, rural biopower and biomass gasification. To find out more, please go to:http://www.bioproducts-bioenergy.gov

Great Plains Ethanol, LLC Breaks Ground in South Dakota
The Renewable Fuels Association congratulated the farmer-owners of Great Plains Ethanol, LLC who broke ground Saturday on an ethanol production facility in Chancellor, SD. The plant is being built by The Broin Companies of Sioux Falls, SD, and will produce 40 million gallons of ethanol per year. South Dakota is currently home to 5 ethanol plants and 3 more are under construction. To read the full article, please go to: http://wwwbbiethanol.com

Old is New Again in Earth-Friendly Home
Julee Herdt, an assistant professor of architecture at the University of Colorado at Denver, is building a 4,700-square-foot home almost completely made with bio-based, recycled, and Earth-friendly materials. Herdt used as many bio-based materials as possible to build the house, including sunflower plants and soy adhesives for the cabinets and wall panels, wheat straw for particle board, and pressed wastepaper for drywall. The house cost Herdt roughly $65 per square foot, or about $305,000, compared to the average sales price of $141 per square foot for a new production home in Boulder. To read the full article, please go to: http://www.denverpost.com

New Soy Biodiesel Plant Underway in Iowa
A new soy biodiesel mixing facility is being constructed in Milford, IA by Iowa Lakes Processing, a wholly owned subsidiary of Farmers Coop Elevator Company. Once completed, the Milford facility will be able to formulate 300,000 to 500,000 gallons of biodiesel from soybean oil. The Milford plant will add from 25- to 50-cents a bushel additional value to the soybean products by converting the oil into B-100 soy diesel. Glycerin, one of the byproducts of the process, will be sold as crude glycerin. The technology acquired to manufacture the soy diesel cost the co-op just under $1 million. To read the full article, please go to:http://www.zwire.com

Data Sources:
OxyFuel News: Ethanol (U.S. Avg: Terminal); MTBE (Houston, TX: spot); Gasoline (Gulf Coast: spot, regular grade)
USDA-National Agricultural Statistics Service, "Agricultural Prices," "Grain Stocks"

Data Sources:
U.S. DOE-Energy Information Administration, "Petroleum Supply Monthly"
USDA-National Agricultural Statistics Service, "Agricultural Prices," "Grain Stocks"