Companies mine cellulosic feedstock for other products

Energy crop company Ceres Power and Rohm and Haas (NYSE: ROH), a manufacturer of specialty materials, are trying to make marketable products out of the same energy crop feedstocks for cellulosic ethanol... and they say the science is "promising."

The two today announced a research collaboration that will work toward producing plant-based alternatives to a petroleum-derived material used in thousands of home and industrial products.

Funded by a $1.5 million research grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the three-year project will determine if energy crops intended for cellulosic ethanol could simultaneously produce methacrylate monomers, a key raw material used in the manufacture of many products including paint and coatings, building materials, and acrylic sheet and resins.

The economics are attractive. More than 1.5 billion pounds of methacrylate monomers are produced annually in the United States, a market worth $780 million.

Though in its early stages, the science looks promising, the two companies say.

Molecular biologists and biochemistry experts at Ceres say that some plants naturally produce compounds similar to methacrylate monomers, but do not necessarily accumulate them in extractable forms or quantities.

They believe it may be feasible to alter the way plants produce these compounds so that they can be extracted from the dried stalks, stems and leaves before these are fed into biorefineries producing ethanol from cellulose.

Ceres President and CEO Richard Hamilton said the potential production of co-products may encourage greater investments in biorefineries capable of producing ethanol from cellulose.

"Getting the cellulosic ethanol industry up and running will take significant investments and the bigger the prize at the end, the better. Methacrylate monomers are a compelling co-product due to the significant market size, feasibility of plant-based production and the fact that it is currently derived from oil and natural gas," Hamilton said.

Funding for the project was provided by USDA and DOE's 2006 Biomass R&D Initiative grant program, which has targeted $17.5 million for 17 biomass projects. Separately, Ceres received a second $1.5 million grant under the program to double switchgrass yields by 2020.

Switchgrass is one of the top feedstocks being considered for cellulosic ethanol production.

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