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January 25, 2010
· Switchgrass may ignite bioenergy revolution
· US food safety focus shifting to prevention
· Ag groups band together to defend atrazine
· DuPont seeks registration for two fungicides
· Haiti quake recovery must include farmers
Switchgrass may ignite bioenergy revolution
(knoxvillebiz.com) – At the University of Tennessee, Joe Bozell is seeking ways to make high-value chemicals used in everything from auto parts to nanotechnology from a humble blade of grass.
Switchgrass, which has received lots of attention as a source of biofuel, will become the ultimate feedstock for a biorefinery built by the state in partnership with Dupont Danisco. The demonstration plant, which initially will produce ethanol from corn cobs, started production late last year and will hold its grand opening on Friday.
The 250,000-gallon plant will serve as the last step for Dupont Danisco in development of biofuel from the so-called cellulosic sources before taking the process commercial.
But longer term, the facility also should give researchers a platform for development of new fuels, chemicals and energy sources, and that will hopefully draw additional research dollars along with private investment to the region.
That's already beginning to happen. Since the state announced a $70 million investment in the biofuels demonstration plant along with development of a switchgrass supply to feed it, the university and Genera Energy, a for-profit UT spinoff, have been able to leverage the project to get additional funding for related endeavors. Last fall, Genera and UT received approximately $7.2 million from the Department of Energy for further development of switchgrass as a bioenergy feedstock - from comparing plant varieties to testing harvest equipment - and Genera CEO Kelly Tiller has said more such grants are in the offing.
In addition, Gov. Phil Bredesen has indicated that an investment associated with the bioenergy facility should be coming soon, although the timeline for the announcement has lapsed beyond his initial prediction of prior to the end of 2009.
"It's really impressive when you sit back and think about it," said Tim Rials, director of research and development for UT's office of bioenergy programs. "At the end of the day we have a unique … large-scale laboratory."
Valuable side business
The new biorefinery not only will serve as a lab for the
scientific and engineering aspects of bioenergy production, it will demonstrate
the economics of the new industry, too, according to Bozell, professor of
biomass chemistry in UT's
Bozell is one of a number of researchers across the country exploring how to make chemical products from biomass. For years, petrochemical corporations have used higher value industrial chemicals to improve the profitability of their plants, he said, and the same potential exists with plant-based replacements.
"We've got a good model in today's petrochemical industry," Bozell said.
"There's no reason why the biorefinery will not also benefit from a similar type model."
To that end, Bozell has several projects targeting different types of chemicals that could ultimately tie into a biorefinery such as the one in Vonore. While there are tens of thousands of chemicals to choose from, researchers are aiming for chemicals or families of chemicals that can be produced at the lowest cost and have the potentially biggest impact, he said. Polymers make up a big category of such materials and go into products such as coatings, films and automotive parts. Nanotechnology is another research focus, he said, as are composite materials that replace petroleum-based products, at least partly with material derived from biomass to deliver products such as decking or structural components of cars.
These materials would be derived from the same primary ingredients as required for biofuel production. Of a plant's three primary ingredients - cellulose, hemi-cellulose and lignin - cellulose and hemi-cellulose are the most useful for ethanol production, rendering lignin a waste or byproduct, as Rials likes to call it. "Nothing is waste," he said.
Indeed, researchers are looking at ways to transform lignin
from a biofuel byproduct into useful material. Bozell has teamed with
In other words, stronger, lighter-weight, more efficient cars of the future could end up being made of the same grass they will run on.
Although most attention at present is focused on the demonstration plant to be operated by Dupont Danisco, an adjoining, smaller process development unit will allow researchers to test new products and processes at a reduced scale. Construction of the unit, which will have an approximately 1,000-per-gallon annual capacity, is now under way with completion expected by the second quarter of this year, said Rials.
The ribbon-cutting for the biofuels plant may be this week, but it will take years to realize the future potential for the plant beyond Dupont Danisco's immediate objectives to commercialize cellulosic ethanol production, Bozell said.
"I think the potential is terrific. There's all sorts of upsides to this," he said. "Once they've got the ethanol part of their operation going, we could imagine getting access to even the next scale higher (beyond testing with the process development unit). That's very positive for the entire biorefining industry."
Peripheral benefits
With that potential impact in mind, local economic developers are beginning to target the bioenergy sector as they evaluate how best to tap into an industry that is still discovering itself.
Jesse Smith, director of technology for Innovation Valley Inc., a regional economic development organization, is thrilled about the promise of the new biofuels plant, comparing its opening to the announcement of two large solar manufacturers setting up operations in other parts of the state.
"It's analogous to having a Wacker (Chemie) or Hemlock, because when you have a pilot facility … like that, industry people are going to come here because this is the place to come when you're at the cutting edge of science and technology," he said.
Once those companies arrive, Smith said, it's easier to sell them on the benefits of locating and expanding here.
"Getting someone to your region is always half the battle. If you get them here, and they love it here, the battle's half won," he said. "Why would you open a business anywhere else?"
Smith said he also envisions small corporate research and development shops or startups setting up small offices here that could eventually expand.
Next month Smith and other local officials will be hitting the road to pitch the region's bioenergy assets, going to trade shows as a follow-up to a renewable energy ad campaign local groups have already aimed at industry publications.
"I think the impact potential is there, but it's a new target for us," said Doug Lawyer, director of economic development for the Knoxville Chamber. "We're trying to get ahead of it, but at the same time I'm not sure what the impact is going to be. Once this thing starts producing the fuel, I think it's going to point a lot of eyes in this region, and we have a golden opportunity to get the word out."
US food safety focus shifting to prevention
(OregonLive.com)
– It's been a year since the country was hit with a peanut-related salmonella
outbreak that sickened more than 700 in
The company that produced the products, Peanut Corp. of
Lawsuits are pending.
Food safety reform awaits a Senate vote.
But the Food and Drug Administration has stepped towards a new era, with the appointment of a head of food safety.
Michael Taylor, who was made deputy commissioner of foods last week, told Northwest food producers on Wednesday that the agency has started working on an overhaul that will shift its focus from reacting to preventing outbreaks.
"There's never been a greater opportunity for progress
in food safety," he told members of the Northwest Food Processors
Association, which held its annual conference at the
But change won't happen quickly, he warned.
"I don't think that the public should think there are
any silver bullets or magic wands for food safety,"
But he said that the agency aims to curtail cases of food poisoning, which sickens at least 76 million Americans a year.
"Every significant outbreak can be tracked back to some preventable event," he said.
He said the agency is creating science-based standards that would apply to producers big and small.
Taylor, who started his career at the FDA and has held top jobs at the U.S. Department of Agriculture and in industry at Monsanto, stressed the need for the agency to work closely with other federal agencies, local and regional authorities and food producers themselves.
The FDA also has to reform itself, he said.
The newly created Office of Food, which he leads, represents a key step. Until now, three groups within the FDA shared responsibility for food safety.
Taylor, who said he plans to visit farms in
What specifically do you plan to do?
A center piece of what's happening now is that Congress is working on legislation that will give us a whole new set of tools. For example, Congress will mandate that all food facilities adopt modern preventative controls. We'll have to set the regulations. We'll have to have new ways of inspecting to hold companies accountable for implementing these preventative controls.
For example, we're working on rules specific to produce. We're looking at what are the right criteria for ensuring the microbial safety of water, for dealing with possible animals coming into growing fields, dealing with worker hygiene. What are the right standards and how do we work with the community to move a very diverse agricultural sector to comply.
What are the prospects for food safety legislation to be passed by the Senate?
There's really broad support in Congress, and the industry groups, the consumer groups, the administration are all very strongly aligned behind getting this legislation passed. So, we're very optimistic that it will happen this spring.
Does it give FDA the necessary resources?
Resources is one of the key unresolved issues in the legislation.
What do you consider to be the biggest problem area in terms of food safety?
Certainly in the produce area there have been a number of significant outbreaks. That's a very challenging area because products are grown out in fields, they're eaten raw. It's also a very diverse part of our agricultural economy, ranging from small tomato farms to 1,000 acre lettuce fields, and we've got to come up with a way of setting standards of prevention that work across that very diverse scope.
The other thing to emphasize is imports. There are more food
facilities registered overseas to sell food in the
You've been back at the FDA since July. What has been done since then to make an improvement?
We've issued final rules to strengthen egg safety. We've issued new science-based guidance to the produce industry on how tomatoes, melons and leafy greens can be produced more safely. A lot has gone on unseen by the public. We've put in place new procedures when issues are detected in inspections. We have a much more real-time way of assessing if there's a health concern that needs immediate action rather than waiting for a long investigation. We're speeding up compliance at that grass-roots level.
Some organic producers are worried that your appointment -- because of your past association with Monsanto -- will hurt them. What do you say to them?
I care a lot about the concerns of organic and other
sustainable and small producers. We're out there listening to them. I've been
traveling to small farms in
Ag groups band together to defend atrazine
(Wire Services) – WASHINGTON, A broad coalition of agriculture groups representing the Triazine Network have written to Lisa Jackson, Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, in defense of the herbicide atrazine, which has become the target of a coordinated attack by environmental groups seeking to eliminate its use.
See copy of the letter to the EPA and listen to audio file of nationwide teleconference here: http://www.ksgrains.com/corn
Atrazine, a critical tool in growing crops as diverse as corn, sorghum, sugar cane, and citrus, has been used safely in over 60 countries for 50 years.
The EPA will begin a re-re-evaluation of atrazine as part of a series of Scientific Advisory Panels, which will begin on February 2nd. Recent media events by agenda-driven organizations such as the Natural Resources Defense Council, Land Stewardship Project and Pesticide Action Network North America suggest a coordinated campaign to call atrazine's safety into question and politicize what should be a scientific process. In fact, in an unprecedented move, the EPA itself identified NRDC material as part of its justification to launch the new review.
"We want to set the record straight on the agriculture
community's broad support of this very effective herbicide that has been used
by farmers for more than 50 years," said Jere White, executive director of
the
"Atrazine is the foundation for weed control programs
in
"The use of atrazine and the triazine family herbicides in citrus production have dramatically reduced the need for cultivation and water applications, provided protection against freeze damage, and created a better quality product," said Joel Nelsen, President of California Citrus Mutual. "Their loss would have a devastating impact on our growers."
The coalition of agriculture groups will be actively involved in the EPA re-evaluation of atrazine and will insist that transparent, peer-reviewed science utilizing accepted practices govern regulatory decision-making.
DuPont seeks registration for two fungicides
(Wire Services) – DuPont has applied to regulatory
authorities in the European Union, represented by the
These countries will conduct a joint review as part of an Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Work Share project for regulatory harmonization. The two new fungicides, DuPont Fontelis and DuPont Vertisan will provide growers with preventive and curative disease control for a wide range of grain, fruit and vegetable crops.
“We look forward to providing these new tools to growers looking to maximize yield and quality with innovative answers to disease control issues,” said Jim Collins, president – Crop Protection. “These new products are another example of how DuPont Crop Protection is using market-driven science to help growers meet the global demand for increased food production.”
Submitting the regulatory package for the fungicides is a milestone for DuPont. The company anticipates launching the new fungicides as early as 2011. DuPont also plans to develop additional products based on the active ingredient — penthiopyrad. Each of the new products will provide unique advantages to growers.
DuPont™ Fontelis™ fungicide will provide broad-spectrum control of diseases that threaten quality, yield and profitability in vegetable crops such as tomatoes and cucumbers; fruits such as apples; and peanuts.
DuPont™ Vertisan™ fungicide will provide broad-spectrum disease control in row crops, such as wheat, barley and soybean. It is effective against a broad range of damaging plant diseases, including some diseases which have developed resistance to other fungicide chemistry classes.
Haiti
(FAO.org) – Haitian farmers must be given immediate support in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake, before the spring planting season begins in March, Jacques Diouf, director-general of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), urged.
According to
"The priority is to supply farmers with seeds, fertilizers, livestock feed and animal vaccines as well as agricultural tools," explained Diouf.
The FAO director-general called for urgent action "in the light of thousands of people fleeing the capital for rural areas and rising food prices," adding that "they will need to be provided with the necessary means to survive and an income generating activity."
Food prices are rising in
"To prevent this urban disaster from becoming a rural tragedy as well, it is crucial that we save the upcoming planting season," Diouf concluded.
The FAO has 73 experts and employees on the ground in
The UN food agency is deploying experts for an assessment of the impact on the agricultural sector and damage to infrastructure in the earthquake-hit areas.
End Transmission