Elsewhere in ag utilization

By Joan Olson

Editor's note: As a service to our readers, we provide news about the work of others in the ag utilization arena. Often, research being done elsewhere complements AURI's work.

Corn converts
Researchers at four government labs have found an inexpensive way to extract commercial chemicals from corn. The scientists ferment corn glucose into an acid, which is purified and converted into chemicals for a variety of products including inks, dyes and plastics. The process costs at least 20 percent less than converting chemicals from petroleum.

Argonne National Laboratory in Lemont, Ill., Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Oak Ridge, Tenn., the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colo. and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richmond, Wash., have signed a three-year, $7 million agreement with Applied CarboChemicals of Pittsburgh to develop and commercialize the process.

Applied CarboChemicals plans to begin turning out the chemicals next year and to operate a large-scale plant by 2000. If the plant produces 100 million pounds of chemicals a year, it will use 3.1 million bushels of corn.

EPA approves emissions kit
Twin Rivers Technologies of Quincy, Mass. received EPA certification of their biodiesel emissions kit for mass-transit buses. The certification allows TRT to use EnviroDiesel, their biodiesel blend, with a catalytic converter to reduce pollutants from older diesel-fueled buses. The EPA's Urban Bus Retrofit/Rebuild Program focuses on lowering particulate matter levels on pre-1994 mass-transit buses.

Source: Illinois Soybean Checkoff Board, Claudine Wargel, (309) 663-7692.

Soy ink makes Asian news
Leading printers and newspapers in Asia are switching to soy ink. Korea's two largest daily newspapers have made the switch; their combined readership is 4.7 million. Japan and Taiwan are also beginning to switch to soy ink. "There is a tremendous opportunity for market growth," says Jo Patterson, coordinator of the National Soy Ink Information Center, Des Moines, Iowa. American Soybean Association seminars in Asia have sparked overseas use of soy ink.

Source: Illinois Soybean Checkoff Board, Claudine Wargel, (309) 663-7692.

Soy strong on polyurethane
The United Soybean Board has given a University of Missouri research team $330,000 to develop and adapt commercial products made from the soy-based polyurethane. Soy flour makes polyurethane foam more stable under high humidity, heat or cold.

Soy-based polyurethane foam used for insulation consists of 7 to 10 percent soybean ingredients. If soybeans capture just 20 percent of the polyurethane foam market within five years, more than a million bushels of soybeans would be used annually.

Source: United Soybean Board, (314) 530-1777.

Uncle Sam wants soy ink
The use of soy ink by the U.S. Government Printing Office has nearly quadrupled since the passage of "The Vegetable Printing Act" in 1994. The act requires the federal government to use vegetable ink for printing when it is cost-competitive with petroleum-based ink.

Source: Sherry Lowe, Minneosta Soybean Research and Promotion Council, 1-888-896-9678.