Environmental biobased products

DOE 0 450.1, CRD sec. 9 EO 13101, sec. 401 4.5.1 In developing plans, drawings, work statements, specifications, or other product descriptions, contractors shall consider, as appropriate, a broad range of factors including elimination of virgin material requirements use of biobased products use of recovered materials reuse of product life-cycle cost recyclability use of environmentally preferable products waste prevention (including toxicity reduction or elimination) and ultimate disposal. ... 

LAN 06] Landis A., Theis T., Comments on Workshop Report on the Economic and Environmental Impacts of Biobased Production , International Journal of LifeCycle Assessment, vol. 11, no. 3, pp. 213,2006. 

Talking of environmental impacts of biobased products, there are also other relevant issues apart from climate change. During agriculture, herbicides and pesticides may be used during production processes, emissions of diverse substances in air or water may take place, and if energetic conversion is the ultimate use, release of fine particulate matter may occur. Aiming at a holistic view on the environment, these possible impacts have to be taken into account as well. 

Miller, S.A., Landis, A., and Theis, T.L (2007) Environmental trade-offs of biobased production. Environ. Sci. Technol., 41, 5176-5192. 

These environmentally-friendly products include biodegradable and biobased materials based on annually renewable agricultural and biomass feedstock [2], which in turn would not contribute to the shortage of petroleum sources [3]. Biocomposites, which... 

Narayan R. Environmental footprint/profile of biobased, biodegradable products in Workshop Assessing the sustainability of biobased products, June 26-27,2003, Iowa State University, USA. Available ww3.abe.iastate.edu/biobased/LCAfootprint.pdf... 

D7075-04 Standard Practice for Evaluating and Reporting Environmental Performance of Biobased Products... 

The involvement of upstream players, that is farmers and their associations, is a very important prerequisite. In agriculture, new agronomical approaches and the development of new genotypes for nonfood applications should be taken into consideration. Agricultural crops and processes associated with lower environmental impact and lower costs are important factors in the development of new biobased products. 

While the potential benefits of biobased products are certainly real, it is also correct that unless such products are produced with proper intelligence and care, their benefits may be reduced or even negated. We must be careful that biomass is grown, harvested, converted to industrial products, and that these products are used and disposed of, in sustainable, environmentally sound systems. Careful, thorough and easily verified life cycle analyses will help us realize the potential of biobased industrial products to benefit our economy and our environment and also to avoid potential problems with the production and use of these products. 

While low yields are a definite economic handicap, they may be an even more severe environmental (and by consequence an economic) handicap. Whatever portion of the raw material is not converted to saleable products becomes waste instead. These wastes must be treated before disposal, if disposal is possible. Liquid wastes from biobased products will likely be characterized by relatively low... 

One of the first biobased products being commercialized exemplifying the promise of combining metabolic engineering with advanced process design to achieve a sustainable product with superior properties at a low cost is biobased 1,3-propanediol (PDO). Because biobased PDO is not yet produced in commercial quantities, this is a good time to take early measure of how well die biobased pathway meets the objectives of sustainable and environmentally benign production. 

Carbon is the major basic element that is the building block of polymeric materials biobased products, petroleum based products, biotechnology products, fuels, even life itself. Therefore, discussions on sustainability, sustainable development, environmental responsibility centers on the issue of managing carbon (carbon based materials) in a sustainable and environmentally responsible manner. Natural ecosystems manages carbon through its biological carbon cycle, and so it makes sense to review how carbon based polymeric materials fit into nature s carbon cycle and address any issues that may arise. 

Sustainable biobased products are products with commercial viability and environmental acceptability, that are derived from renewable resources and that have recycling capabilities and triggered bio degradability [2]. By incorporating biofibers into biopolymer matrices, new truly "green" biodegradable ecocomposites are created. This class of materials is currently under development and being comprehensively studied and researched. 

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