Advanced BioFuels USA

by Milsa Vijayadharan* (Advanced Biofuels USA)  Developments of OBN west coast partners was the focus of the latest presentation by OBIC Bioproducts Network. The presentation is a part of the bioproducts commercialization webinar series. The webinar was conducted on May 30^th. Malama Composites, Biosynthetic Technologies and Verdezyne were the three California Bioproducts Companies who participated in the webinar.
Malama Composites–Malama composites develops and manufactures rigid polyurethane foams made from bio-based resources. These urethane foams can be used to produce stronger, lighter, less toxic, more sustainable products. Traditional Polyurethane (PUR) foams are toxic and difficult to recycle. Malama’s products are cost and performance competitive with petroleum based PUR foams and have no negative human health impact and can be recovered or recycled. They created a new foam for the entertainment industry which is useful for hand sculpting and machine shaping.
The second type of foam Malama manufactures is for the surfboard and standup paddleboard industry.
Malama developed a packaging foam for the pharmaceutical and biotech industry.
In January they launched fire–rated panels for the building and construction industry, this product provides structural insulation and improves energy efficiency of homes and building. It helps in reducing the use of coal and natural gas used to generate electricity consumed by HVAC systems.
Their products also sequester carbon.
Malama has joined a consortium of companies to develop an Advanced Composite Building System (ACASA). ACASA structures are affordable, energy and resource efficient. ACASA builds environmentally conscious communities worldwide.  ACASA buildings are 100% reusable and recyclable. ACASA combines Malama’s bio-composite panels with light gage steel framing and geo-composite coating to enable the construction of green homes and buildings worldwide.
Biosynthetic Technologies–Biosynthetic Technologies manufactures bio-based synthetic oils which are used in lubricants, specialty chemicals and cosmetics from organic oils found in plants. These bio-based synthetic oils are synthesized specifically for high performance lubricant applications in the automotive and industrial sectors.  These oils are biodegradable, nontoxic and renewable, an alternative to petroleum based products.
Vegetable oil has some inherent deficiencies; they do not perform well in certain high temperature applications. To improve their temperature properties and oxidative stability, at Biosynthetic Technologies they reconfigured the molecular structure of these vegetable oils. The manufacturing process takes the triglycerides found in canola, soy and algal oils and breaks them down and reconfigures the free fatty acids into a more robust product that overcomes some of the inherent deficiencies that vegetable oils have.
The only byproducts of this process are glycerin and a small amount of water.
This process is relatively inexpensive relative to the refining of petroleum based products. The resulting oil is the base oil that lubricant companies and motor oil companies use in formulating their products. These oils are far more efficient in keeping the engine clean than conventional oils. Environmental issues such as silent oil spills, used lubricant oil pollution, and greenhouse gas emissions can be minimized by the adoption of these bio-based oils.
Verdezyne–Verdezyne produces chemicals from renewable and nonfood sources. Verdezyne has developed a platform for engineering yeast which is used in fermentation. The fermentation process produces a variety of intermediates that can be used in nylon and plastics at a lower cost, substituting for petroleum based products.
A variety of plant-based oils and their by-products can be used as feedstock. Palm kernel/seed is not suitable for the food chain. Palm kernel is used to produce oil called palm kernel oil which is used as a source of feedstock at Verdezyne. It creates a favorable supply vs demand pricing strategy.
Dodecanedioic Acid, Adipic Acid, Sebacic Acid are the intermediates mainly produced at Verdezyne. Some of the applications of these products are cosmetics, adhesives, coatings, paints, lubricants, corrosion inhibitors, carpet, furniture, apparel, footwear, light weight car components, etc.
 
Self-sustaining communities built using structurally superior high performance building systems can be made possible by systems like ACASA which can dramatically improve environmental impacts and worker exposure and safety.
Environmental issues such as silent oil spills, used lubricant oil pollution, greenhouse gas emission can be minimized by the adoption of bio-based lubricating oils and motor oils.
Chemicals produced from renewable feedstocks and by using environmentally safe methods generate less carbon dioxide and reduce carbon footprints.
All these technologies promise to provide increased safety for the environment and better health performance but for a product to be successful in the market it has to be cost competitive, add some value in the market and have a reliable and a low cost feedstock. These companies seems to cover all these contributing factors. Bioproducts that are cost competitive with the conventional products will be appealing to consumers.
 
*Milsa Vijayadharan has a masters degree in Chemistry and experience working in scientific laboratories. As she keeps up with developments in advanced biofuels, she occasionally writes articles and adds posts to the Advanced Biofuels USA web site library.