BIOBASED MATERIALS ISSUES AND CHALLENGES Giovanni CAMINO Politecnico of Torino, Alessandria Campus giovanni.camino@polito.it
CONTENTS Biosourcing definition and measurement Sustainability and Life Cycle Assessment Renewable Carbon source and biorefineries State of the art and perspectives: Four technologies generations
DEFINITIONS Materials confusing definitions still to be settled: - origin of material life: Bioplastic, Biopolymer, Biosourced.. - end of material life. Biodegradability, Compostability, Organic recyclability.. - mixed
DEFINITIONS Preferable: - Renewability: From renewable resources ASTM D6866 - the material must be organic and contain some percentage of recently fixed (new) carbon found in biological resources or crops. Proposed acronym for ReNewable ReSources: RNRS e.g. RNRS Polymers
ASTM-D6866-10 General quantification of renewable C content Standard Test Method for Determining the Biobased Content of Solid, Liquid, and Gaseous Samples using Radiocarbon Analysis It is strictly for sourcing chemical compounds : fossil vs. renewable Renewably Sourced Carbon Total Organic Carbon Carbonates of natural mineral origin are to be excluded ASTM-D6866 is a standardization of radiocarbon dating methods used by archaeologists to determine the age of fossils. Used also for CO 2 regulation: analysis of stack effluent separate reporting of biogenic vs fossil CO 2 emissions BETA Radiocarbon Dating
RENEWABLE MATERIAL VS NEW CARBON CONTENT Renewable Material content is not renewable C EXAMPLE Our new partyware solves the problem by being 100% compostable! It is high-heat tolerant, biodegradable, compostable and attractive cutlery made from 80% potato or corn starch and 20% soy or other vegetable oils. Biobased materials, what s next? BUT: Steve Mojo-BPI Exec. Director
RNRS POLYMERS by ORIGIN /PRODUCTION RNRS EXTRACTED FROM BIOMASS PRODUCED BY MICROORGANISMS THE QUESTION IS: ARE RNRS MATERIALS SUSTAINABLE? Biobased materials, what s next?
CONTENTS Biosourcing definition and measurement Sustainability and Life Cycle Assessment Renewable Carbon source and biorefineries State of the art and perspectives: Four technologies generations
SUSTAINABILITY «Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs» How can it be measured? by Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) ISO 14040/ASTM D7075 TARGET: SUSTAINABLE RENEWABILITY
Cradle to Grave
LOCATION DEPENDENCE Biobased materials, what s next?
THE MIXING TRIANGLE Journal of Industrial Ecology 3 (2010) 97-115
LCA Biobased materials, what s next? LCA is key point in evaluation of sustainability Environmental impact parameters are becoming relevant commercial and regulation issues LCA data must be described as any other scientific result: - Refrain from showing «convenient» histograms only - Describe method, basic hypothesis - Results must be validated by third body
CONTENTS Biosourcing definition and measurement Sustainability and Life Cycle Assessment Renewable Carbon source and biorefineries State of the art and perspectives: Four technologies generations
CARBON SOURCE Biobased materials, what s next?
CARBON SOURCE FROM BIOMASS TO OIL AND BACK FISCHER-TROPSCH 1920 OIL (1859) 1940 (2n + 1) H 2 + n CO CnH(2n+2) + n H2O n = 10-20
WHAT IS NEW? CHEMISTRY/BIOCHEMISTRY ORGANIC CATALYSTS: ENZYMES (PROTEINS) CHEMISTRY INORGANIC CATALYSTS
FROM BIOMASS TO CHEMICALS, FUEL, PLASTICS Biobased materials, what s next? J.M. Raquez, Bioplastics Conference, Rivalta, Italy, 2013
CARBON SOURCE ISSUES Organic substances essential for fuel, materials They are Carbon based compounds Chemistry can produce them from any C source Early industrial chemistry: C from biomass through chemical processes e.g. Fischer Tropsch Oil exploitation supplied cheaper C source Today concern regarding oil, turns interest to biomasses using chemistry, biochemistry and Genetics
RENEWABLE CARBON DRIVING ISSUES Size of oil reserve - Unknown: availability assured for 20 years by oil companies exploitation policy Access to oil rich regions, political instability Increase and volatility of oil cost - trade-off at ca. 100 US$/barrell
CONTENTS Biosourcing definition and measurement Sustainability and Life Cycle Assessment Renewable Carbon source and biorefineries State of the art and perspectives: Four technologies generations
ENERGY-CHEMISTRY COMPETITION FUELS RNRS C CHEMICALS SUBSTANCES PLASTICS ENERGY BY C, H OXIDATION is not sustainable but not yet avoidable
1st GENERATION RNRS CHEMICALS Food culture: mais, soja, palm, sugar cane.. Sugar, Starch, Oils Biobased materials, what s next?
1st GENERATION RNRS Biobased materials, what s next?
RNRS C LAND USE IN 2011 AND FORECAST 2016 Biobased materials, what s next?
1st GENERATION RNRS CHEMICALS /FOOD CONFLICT Biobased materials, what s next?
2nd GENERATION RNRS CHEMICALS Biobased materials, what s next? Non food lignocellulosic biomasses and agricultural food waste processing sugars, lignin processing/biocatalysis chemicals, materials
NOT ONLY BIOFUEL ALSO MATERIALS
LIGNIN CONVERSION PROCESS Biobased materials, what s next?
Turning challenges into opportunities The present polymer science and technology know how allows design and production of materials suitable to any demand Industrial economy makes large production polymer materials chemical structure renewal not feasible Implementation of RNRS C chemical platforms makes it possible to design more advantageous properties balance structures
RNRS C MULTIDSCIPLINARY INTEGRATED APPROACH Chemistry/Biochemistry/Agronomy
2 nd GENERATION RNRS C AGRICULTURAL ISSUES Biobased materials, what s next? YES STOVERS CORN COBS NO STRAW RICE AND WHEAT
3rd GENERATION RNRS CHEMICALS Increase yield of RNRS C by plants design, selection, genetic modifications or Algae exploitation 1,500-8,000 gal/acre/year
3rd GENERATION RNRS CHEMICALS Biobased materials, what s next?
4rth GENERATION RNRS CHEMICALS Genetically modified algae to convert CO 2 into ethyl alcohol Ethanol from blue-green algae (cyanobacteria) most active photo synthetic organism, genetically modified to enhance production of enzymes to channel C to ethanol WO 2008/055190 A2
RNRS POLIMERS - WEAK POINTS Nanocomposites Nanofillers Multyphase systems -Poor thermal stability -Poor gas barrier -Poor mechanical strength -Low melt viscosity - RNRS Polymers
RENEWABLE CARBON DRIVING ISSUES Size of oil reserve - Unknown: availability assured for 20 years by oil companies exploitation policy Access to oil rich regions, political instability Increase and volatility of oil cost - trade-off at ca. 100 US$/barrell WILL SHALE GAS-OIL DOWNSIZE TODAY S CONCERNS?
SHALE OIL Biobased materials, what s next?
SHALE GAS Biobased materials, what s next?
SHALE OIL - GAS Biobased materials, what s next?
SHALE OIL Biobased materials, what s next?
SHALE OIL Biobased materials, what s next?
LCA Biobased materials, what s next?
LCA Biobased materials, what s next?
LCA Biobased materials, what s next?
LCA Biobased materials, what s next?
CONCLUSIONS Polymer materials from renewable resources through sustainable chemical, biochemical processes without food competitions is shown to be industrially possible as yet Technologies are developing which will improve the environmental benefits of renewable Carbon use Sustainability of C chemical Industry is improving under pressure by concern for expected oil shortage and restricted availability