| ■ | Renewable Fuels Association, “Veterans Encourage President to Include Ethanol, RFS in Energy Plan” |
| ■ | Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, “State Ag Department Greenlights 16 Promising Industrial Hemp Research Projects” |
| ■ | Brookhaven National Laboratory, “Study IDs Link between Sugar Signaling and Regulation of Oil Production in Plants” |
| ■ | University of Manchester, “Bioenergy Gets Graphic with New Illustrated Guide to the Subject” |
| ■ | Environmental Research Letters, “Recent Grassland Losses are Concentrated around U.S. Ethanol Refineries” |
| ■ | Materials, “Microwave-Assisted Catalytic Synthesis of Bio-Based Copolymers from Waste Cooking Oil” |
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 The Biobased and Renewable Products Advocacy Group 
(BRAG) helps members develop and bring to market their innovative biobased and renewable chemical products through insightful
policy and regulatory advocacy. BRAG is managed by B&C® Consortia Management, L.L.C.,
an affiliate of Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. |
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On February 17, 2017, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced it is accepting applications for the Biorefinery, Renewable Chemical, and Biobased Product Manufacturing Assistance Program. The Program provides guaranteed loans for projects developing, constructing, or retrofitting commercial scale biorefineries and biobased product manufacturing facilities. The developments must use eligible technology, including new commercial scale processing and manufacturing equipment. Applicants must submit a Letter of Intent by March 6, 2017, that identifies the Borrower, Lender, and Project sponsors, and describes the project, project location, proposed feedstock, primary technologies of the facility, primary products, loan amount, and total project cost estimate. Applications are due on April 3, 2017, at 4:30 pm (EDT). On February 21, 2017, USDA announced in the Federal Register that the comment period for the Designation of Product Categories for Federal Procurement proposed rule had been extended. The proposed rule aims to amend the Guidelines for Designating Biobased Products for Federal Procurement to add 12 product categories composed of intermediate ingredient and feedstock materials and to propose a minimum biobased content for each category. In addition to the product categories and biobased content, USDA is seeking comments on appropriate performance standards for each product category, the positive environmental and human health attributes of biobased products within the proposed categories, and how small businesses may be affected by the proposed rule. Comments are now due by April 13, 2017. On February 9, 2017, Avantium announced a partnership with AkzoNobel (a member of the Biobased and Renewable Products Advocacy Group (BRAG®)), Chemport Europe, RWE Generation, and Staatsbosbeheer to develop a reference plant at the Chemie Park Delfzijl in the Netherlands. The plant will use a new technology, referred to as the Zambezi process, for the cost-effective production of high-purity glucose from non-food biomass, including forestry residue, pulp, and agricultural byproducts. Once the woody biomass is converted into sugars and lignin, it can be used to produce a wide range of biobased chemicals and materials. The design of the plant includes an expansion-ready footprint to enable a rapid increase in capacity following the demonstration phase. On February 9, 2017, Illinois State Senators Andy Manar and Chapin Rose introduced legislation aimed at growing Illinois’ biobased economy by providing incentives under the Renewable Chemical Production Tax Credit Program Act. The program would provide credit against taxes for eligible Illinois businesses that produce renewable chemicals within the state using biomass feedstock and other renewable sources. The legislation defines a renewable chemical as a building block with a biobased content of at least 50 percent. According to the legislation, eligible businesses will be required to submit to the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity an application for the tax credit that includes the amount of renewable chemical produced during the calendar year and any other information needed to verify eligibility as identified by the Department. The proposed tax credit will not exceed $1 million for businesses that have been in operation in Illinois for five years or less, and $500,000 for businesses that have been in operation longer than five years.
On January 27, 2017, AkzoNobel, a member of the Biobased and Renewable Products Advocacy Group (BRAG®), signed a framework joint development agreement with Itaconix, a specialty chemicals company and U.S. subsidiary of Revolymer, to explore opportunities for biobased polymer production. According to the agreement, Itaconix will provide proprietary polymerization technology to turn itaconic acid from fermented sugars into polymers and AkzoNobel will carry out the development and commercialization of the biobased polymers. The deal aligns closely with AkzoNobel’s sustainability agenda and will generate biobased polymers with unique properties for use in everyday applications while furthering the development of biobased chemistry on a large scale.
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