Blogs > Biobased Chemicals
Posted on October 04, 2013 by Heidi
Not only did the U.S. government shut down at midnight on Monday, but so did the nine month extension of the 2008 Farm Bill. With no new five-year Farm Bill, the future is uncertain for rural energy programs supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), including the Biorefinery Assistance Program that promotes the development of biorefineries in the U.S.
As we have reported earlier this year, the U.S. Senate passed its version of the next five-year Farm Bill, including funding for farm, nutrition, and energy programs. Importantly, the Senate bill continues and provides mandatory funding for existing Farm Bill energy programs and extends eligibility to renewable chemicals. After failing to pass a combined bill, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a "farm-only" bill this summer and a nutrition-only bill cutting $40 billion in food stamps just last week. The House farm-only Farm Bill contains an energy title without mandatory funding that will instead be subject to annual appropriations, and it does not extend the energy programs to renewable chemicals.
There has been hope that though the differences are deep, the House and Senate will be able to pass a five-year Farm Bill by the end of the year when mandatory funds for commodity subsidies and food stamps expire. Whether this is true now largely depends on how quickly Congress re-opens the government and raises the debt ceiling to ensure the ability of the U.S. to meet its financial obligations.
Posted on October 04, 2013 by Heidi
On August 28, 2013, California's Office of Administrative Law (OAL) approved the California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) Safer Consumer Products Regulations (Regulations). The Regulations took effect on October 1, 2013.
The Regulations are the much anticipated regulatory implementation of California's Green Chemistry Initiative. DTSC's implementing regulations have gone through several iterations, including an initial draft released on June 23, 2010, a revised draft released on November 16, 2010, an "informal draft" released on October 31, 2011, proposed regulations released on July 27, 2012, revised proposed regulations released on January 29, 2013, another revised proposed regulations released on April, 10, 2013, and revisions proposed on August 23, 2013 (the 15-day comment period for these last comments was open until September 9, 2013, despite the issuance of final Regulations). Memoranda providing background information on past iterations are available online. The Regulations and Final Statement of Reasons are available online.
Posted on October 04, 2013 by Heidi
California-based renewable chemical company Rennovia, Inc. announced on October 1, 2013, that it has "produced, and shipped to a prospective partner, samples of what it believes to be the world's first 100% bio-based nylon-6,6 polymer, under Rennovia's RENNLON brand, made from Rennovia's renewable monomers, RENNLON adipic acid (AA) and RENNLON hexamethylenediamine (HMD)." The Company estimates this production will cost 20-25 percent less than conventional AA and HMB, and will result in approximately 85 percent less greenhouse gas emissions. A copy of the Company's press release is available online.
Posted on September 27, 2013 by Heidi
On September 19, 2013, in a partisan vote, the U.S. House of Representatives passed by a vote of 217-210 its version of the nutrition portion of the next Farm Bill. All Democrats and 15 Republicans in the House of Representatives voted against the bill, which would cut $40 billion from the national food stamp program over the next decade and will almost surely delay final passage of the next five-year Farm Bill. The current Farm Bill expires on September 30.
Historically, the Farm Bill has combined funding for farm and nutrition programs. This summer, by a bi-partisan vote, the Senate passed S. 954, its version of the next five-year Farm Bill that included funding for farm, rural energy, and nutrition programs. It continues funding for Farm Bill energy programs that help encourage biofuels production, and expands coverage to include renewable chemicals. S. 954 would cut only $4 billion from the food stamp program over the next decade.
The House split the farm and nutrition portions of the Farm Bill because in June of this year, it failed to pass a combined bill that would have cut $20 billion from food stamps. At the time, generally, Democrats felt the food stamp cuts were too steep, while Republicans thought they did not go far enough. Over the summer, House leadership opted to split the bill into farm and nutrition only parts, and to get the votes to pass the nutrition portion by answering the Republican call for steeper cuts.
Now that the House has passed both the farm and nutrition portions of the next Farm Bill, it is expected that House leadership will appoint conferees to meet with the already named Senate conferees in an effort to prepare a bill in final that may be passed by both the House and Senate and signed into law by the President. No one expects this process will be complete by September 30, but they are hopeful it could happen by the end of the year when farm support will revert back to a 1949 agriculture law. If that happens, there will not be any continuing support for biofuels and renewable chemicals.
Posted on September 19, 2013 by Heidi
Improved utility of data, transparent supply chains, and transformative innovation were just some of the topics discussed by regulators, researchers, and industry at the 3rd Safer Consumer Products Summit: National Policy Outlook held in Washington, D.C. this week. Summit Chair Lynn L. Bergeson, Managing Partner, B&C, opened the main summit by noting the dramatic shift in environmental law from the regulation of discharges of chemical substances into the environment (and their subsequent cleanup) to a more proactive focus on the regulation of chemicals in products -- especially consumer products. She then walked the room through the current efforts at TSCA reform, most notably CSIA and gave her insider's analysis of what to expect from Capitol Hill regarding CSIA.
Keynote speaker Jim Jones, Assistant Administrator, Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention (OCSPP), highlighted the great strides the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has made in increasing access to data, especially with the debut last week of the ChemView searchable database and the positive impact programs such as Design for the Environment and the Green Chemistry Awards have in stimulating the safer chemical market.
In a luncheon keynote, sponsored by BRAG, the "father of green chemistry" Dr. Paul Anastas, Director of the Center for Green Chemistry and Green Engineering at Yale, exhorted the gathered companies, researchers, and non-governmental organizations (NGO) to set a goal of transformative innovation rather than incremental improvements: instead of just looking for safer dyes, develop fiber plants that grow in colors; rather than making a small improvement in paint and waterproofing formulations, mimic the action of waterproof plants to achieve the goal.
A panel discussion with safer product groups and brands, moderated by BRAG's Executive Director Kathleen M. Roberts, included spirited exchanges on the perceived value of "green" to consumers, the need for extreme transparency of ingredients throughout the supply chain, and the question of whether NGOs can engage in recognizing and encouraging good corporate actions in addition to their focus on thwarting the bad. Ms. Roberts made the point that BRAG is actively engaged in helping to level the regulatory playing field between petroleum-based products and their greener alternative biobased products.
See BRAG's twitter feed for a running account of salient points from the summit, twitter.com/biobasedpolicy, and contact .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) for copies of the presentations.
Posted on September 19, 2013 by Heidi
On September 12, 2013, Representative Bill Pascrell (D-NJ) introduced H.R. 3084, the "Qualifying Renewable Chemical Production Tax Credit Act," to provide tax parity for the renewable chemical industry in the United States. Along with Representative Pascrell, the original co-sponsors of the bi-partisan bill are Representatives Steve Stockman (R-TX), Allyson Schwartz (D-PA), Linda Sanchez (D-CA), and Richard Neal (D-MA).
Essentially, the bill would extend the current production tax credit (PTC) for cellulosic biofuels to producers of renewable chemicals. It would provide a PTC of 15 cents per pound of eligible renewable content, but it caps the benefit at $500 million and a single producer may not receive more than $25 million in a tax year. A copy of the legislation is available online. Representative Pascrell has stated publicly that he hopes the legislation will help incentivize the U.S. production of renewable chemicals and help develop the industry here in the United States.
Posted on September 19, 2013 by Heidi
On September 16, 2013, Cambridge, Massachusetts-based renewable chemicals company, Metabolix, announced the development of Mvera B5010, which is a compostable film grade resin to be used for global compostable bag and film markets. Mvera B5010 meets international industrial standards for compostability and will be featured during K 2013 in Düsseldorf, Germany, October 16-23, 2013. A copy of Metabolix's press release on the announcement is available online.
Posted on September 05, 2013 by Heidi
Unilever announced this week its new partnership with the University of Liverpool for a three-year research project designed to develop renewable chemicals "from the surplus sugars, fats, oils and carbohydrates produced via commodity by-products and forestry wastes, creating a cent[er] of excellence in the identification of sustainably sourced ingredients that it is hoped will end up in the production of some of the world's most familiar brands." The company's press release on the partnership is available online.
Posted on August 30, 2013 by Heidi
On August 26, 2013, bio-isobutanol producer, Gevo, Inc., supported by Coca-Cola and Japanese chemical producer Toray Industries, Inc., held a ribbon cutting ceremony to open its new demonstration-scale paraxylene plant adjacent to Gevo's existing renewable jet fuel plant in Silsbee, Texas. Paraxylene is a key building block to renewable PET beverage bottles and packaging, among other things. Gevo's press release announcing this new facility is available online.
Posted on August 26, 2013 by Heidi
Renewable chemicals are emerging at a fast pace, paving the way for new, innovative, and sustainable biobased products. The renewable chemicals’ market is estimated to reach $83.4 billion by 2018 in applications ranging from transportation and agriculture to textiles and cosmetics. In addition to all the elements great companies need to succeed -- a great product, a great brand, inspiring leadership, and vision -- biobased product companies need to understand how the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) occupies a virtual seat at their management table, whether or not they know it.
An article by BRAG in the August 2013 issue of Industrial Biotechnology, available online, lays out the regulatory challenges the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) presents to biobased and renewable chemical products and the rationale behind the formation of BRAG. Through strategic insight into regulatory and legislative issues, collective advocacy on Capitol Hill and before EPA, education and training opportunities, and hands-on guidance from a deep bench of TSCA legal and scientific policy experts, BRAG is removing obstacles to commercialization for its members.
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