Wilmington, Delaware and Golden, Colorado
October 6, 2003
Research goal is to develop both fuels and
value-added chemicals from entire corn plant, other renewable
resources
DuPont and
the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy
Laboratory (NREL) today announced a joint research agreement
leading toward the development of the world's first integrated
"bio-refinery" that uses corn or other renewable resources –
rather than traditional petrochemicals – to produce a host of
valuable fuels and value-added chemicals. The $7.7 million
Cooperative Research and Development Agreement calls for DuPont
and the NREL to collaboratively develop, build, and test a
bio-refinery pilot process that will make fuels and chemicals
from the entire corn plant – including the fibrous material in
the stalks, husks, leaves, and the starchy material in the
kernels.
The
agreement is part of the larger $38 million DuPont-led
consortium known as the Integrated Corn-Based Bioproducts
Refinery (ICBR) project. The ICBR project – which includes
DuPont, NREL, Diversa Corporation, Michigan State, and Deere &
Co. – was awarded $19 million in matching funds from the
Department of Energy last year to design and demonstrate the
feasibility and practicality of alternative energy and renewable
resource technology.
The
initiative will develop the world's first fully integrated
bio-refinery, which will be capable of producing a range of
products from a variety of plant-material feedstocks. Several
bio-refineries currently produce a range of products mainly from
starch-rich or protein-rich biomass, while other bio-refineries
start with a variety of vegetable oils.
"DuPont has
a rich history of partnering with governments to enhance the
quality of life through science," said DuPont Chief Science and
Technology Officer Thomas M. Connelly. "We are pleased the U.S.
Department of Energy and NREL support this initiative and
recognize that bio-science offers feasible solutions to meet our
energy needs while reducing our environmental footprint. The
scarcity of non-renewable resources amplifies the need to
develop sustainable science-based solutions."
"We at NREL
are pleased to partner with DuPont in this exciting
undertaking," said NREL Director Admiral Richard Truly. "With
this project our nation takes a big step toward the day when we
can produce many of the transportation fuels and chemical stocks
we require from domestically grown corn and energy crops, as
well as agricultural and forestry residues."
Operating
like a conventional refinery, the ICBR will make use of the
entire corn plant. Purified sugars from the corn kernel will be
the primary source of value-added chemicals, while the remainder
of the corn plant – commonly called "the stover" – will be
converted into fuel-grade ethanol and electrical power.
One of those
value-added chemicals could be 1,3 propanediol (PDO), the key
building block for DuPont™ Sorona® – the company's newest
polymer platform – which can be used in applications such as
textile apparel, carpeting, and packaging. Through metabolic
engineering, DuPont recently developed a fermentation-based
process as the basis for the manufacturing of bio-PDO. This
process earned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's
Presidential Green Chemistry award earlier this year.
Michael
Pacheco, director of the National Bioenergy Center at NREL,
specifically noted DuPont's leadership in biotechnology and
polymers, and NREL's expertise in the conversion of
lignocellulosic biomass as complimentary capabilities of the two
partners. "New technologies that produce fuels, chemicals, and
energy from biomass will allow the U.S. to reduce its reliance
on foreign sources of fossil fuels, while creating new markets
for domestic grains and crop residues – helping to stimulate the
U.S. agricultural economy," he said.
"DuPont has
a proven ability to take great ideas, work to make them more
cost effective, and move them into the marketplace," Pacheco
said. "The combined capabilities and years of research expertise
of both DuPont and NREL creates what we believe is an ideal
partnership."
Doug
Kaempf, program manager of the Office of the Biomass Program
within the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), said partnerships
between industry and the U.S. government's national laboratories
are essential to catalyze the emergence of a bioenergy industry
in the United States and reduce the dependence on imported oil.
"The
DuPont-led agreement is one of a portfolio of cooperative
research agreements that combines the resources of the federal
government with those of our industrial partners to develop
biomass derived fuels, chemicals, and power," Kaempf said.
NREL is a
U.S. Department of Energy national laboratory managed by Midwest
Research Institute, Battelle and Bechtel. In addition to its
work in plant- and waste-derived fuels and chemicals, NREL is
DOE's leading center for research into solar power, wind energy,
advanced vehicle systems, geothermal energy and hydrogen
technologies.
DuPont is a science company. Founded in 1802,
DuPont puts science to work by solving problems and creating
solutions that make people's lives better, safer and easier.
Operating in more than 70 countries, the company offers a wide
range of products and services to markets including agriculture,
nutrition, electronics, communications, safety and protection,
home and construction, transportation and apparel.
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Oval, DuPont™, The miracles of science™, and Sorona® are
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