Can plants edge out petroleum as raw material for textiles and plastics?

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/pressroom/presspacs/2014/acs-presspac-october-29-2014/can-plants-edge-out-petroleum-as-raw-material-for-textiles-and-plastics.html

[font face=Serif][font size=5]Can plants edge out petroleum as raw material for textiles and plastics?[/font]

[font size=4]"Biobased Polymers"
Chemical & Engineering News[/font]

[font size=3]Your next pair of spandex pants could be made out of corn — or, more precisely, from dextrose derived from corn. This option is part of a new wave, albeit a small one, of consumer goods that are being produced from plants rather than petroleum-based materials. But a complete transition to a biobased economy won’t be easy, according to an article in Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN), the weekly newsmagazine of the American Chemical Society.

Melody M. Bomgardner, a senior editor at C&EN, notes that a range of companies, from start-up firms to industrial giants, have been searching for ways to fill a growing consumer demand for sustainable materials. Invista and Genomatica say they will pursue nylon intermediates from sugar. Coca-Cola is making progress toward a 100 percent biobased soda bottle (they’re already at 30 percent). But trading in all conventional materials for ones that might be more sustainable won’t be easy.

The main challenge to this shift is economics. Prices for biobased raw materials to feed the supply chain must drop to competitive levels. Manufacturers must invest in new facilities to process the raw materials. And ultimately, it’s the consumers’ pocketbooks that will likely decide just how far this trend will go.[/font][/font]

[Cleita]

1. I think it's a good idea with some reservations.

Will the plants grown be grown in a way that doesn't pollute either other plants or the soil? Is the end product bio-degradable over time or will it end up floating in the ocean on a garbage island too?

[OKIsItJustMe]

2. The answers vary

Different plants are being used, to produce different sorts of plastics.

http://cen.acs.org/articles/92/i43/Biobased-Polymers.html

[font face=Serif][font size=5]Biobased Polymers[/font]

[font size=4]Corporate ingenuity and determination is starting to pay off, but products must still be muscled into the supply chain[/font]

[font size=3]…

Invista, the synthetic fibers maker that was once part of DuPont, wants to make biobased polymers look effortless. In May, the company introduced a new version of its Lycra brand spandex that it touts as being 70% from dextrose derived from corn. Responding to a sports apparel industry looking for more Earth-friendly materials, Invista highlighted the fibers’ reduced CO[font size="1"]₂[/font] footprint in its press release.

…

Succinic acid, made from sugar, is an adaptable molecule that can be used as a feedstock for BDO, polyester polyols for polyurethanes, biodegradable plastics, composite resins, and as a replacement for the polymer ingredient adipic acid. Unlike biobased BDO or acrylic acid, however, it is not an exact replacement for a petroleum-derived commodity chemical.

Customer interest in succinic acid has been high, but customers want assurances about future costs and availability, says Marcel Lubben, Reverdia’s president. Potential users in cost-competitive polymer markets started asking the company about licensing the technology so they could make the raw material themselves.

In the meantime, Reverdia has made progress getting its monomer into the supply chain for polybutylene succinate, a biodegradable polymer used in food packaging, disposable cups, and cutlery. In contrast, segments such as polyurethanes, resins, and coatings are taking longer because it is more difficult to change up those supply chains, Lubben acknowledges.

…[/font][/font]

[KT2000]

3. take a look at

what some yarns are made of now - milk and bamboo are just two of the new products. It seems to me some work is already being done that can be built upon.

[NickB79]

4. Oh goody, another use of crop "wastes"

Hey, we already strip-mine the soil, er I mean farm, for food and biofuels, so lets bale up the little remaining biomass left (the stems and stalks) and send that off to a factory to use as well. I'm sure keeping the soil healthy for future generations isn't THAT important. Surely not more important than making sure we have access to the trendiest pair of spandex pants!

And when the soil is so depleted of anything organic to support the vital microbes and fungi, I'm sure we can just add more synthetic fertilizers to rectify that

[OKIsItJustMe]

5. I suppose you’re right. It’s much better to use petroleum.

Like it or not, people will produce and use plastic. How would you like it to be produced?

[Cleita]

6. Maybe these plants could be produced by hydroponics in

greenhouse style warehouses for exactly this purpose to be used for polymers. It would remove them from our agricultural lands.

[NickB79]

7. "Like it or not, people will produce and use plastic"

Yes they will, for a while longer at least. Using whatever raw materials they can get their hands on, until they can't anymore. And in the process, they will destroy the planet's biosphere in the process for more worthless shit to purchase.

But your point is moot; either process (oil to plastics, or topsoil to plastics) will be another cog in the wheel of destruction that will ultimately topple this global civilization. And when the dust settles, people will not be producing or using plastics to any substantial degree.

And honestly, if you absolutely had to choose, it may be better to use up petroleum than topsoil for plastics; I'd rather see a world devoid of petroleum than a world devoid of topsoil. You can rebuild a civilization without petroleum; you can't without fertile land to grow crops.

[RiverLover]

8. Love it!!