by Bruce Goodman

Today the petrochemical industry manufactures products from fossil fuels: plastics, chemicals, and other products.  Scientists tell us that nearly all of these products can be made from renewable, carbon neutral biomass. The processes are similar.

The petrochemical industry breaks oil and natural gas down to base chemicals and then builds desired products from them. Biorefining technology breaks biomass down to component sugars that can be used to build the same desired products. Fermentation, chemical catalysis, and other processes are used to create products that can be used in manufacturing processes.

There are currently robust forces driving sustainable bioproducts production.  Biomass-based products are expected to make a significant impact on the production of bulk chemicals in the next decade, and a huge impact within 20 to 30 years. About 5 percent of global chemical sales currently are made up of “green products”.  Some are predicting that the market share could rise to 20 percent by 2010 and may ultimately reach 66 percent of the total global economy.

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by Bruce Goodman

Just as pork has been advertised as “the other white meat,” wood-fueled electric energy projects might do well to label themselves “the other renewable energy.” People forget about biomass and focus on wind and solar when thinking about renewable energy. Yet firing wood biomass provides perhaps the best chance of getting the most immediate bang for the renewable energy buck. Biomass and wood waste energy projects are receiving significant funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Here is a carbon neutral strategy that utilizes fuels that need not be imported from other states or countries. Michigan’s sustainable forestry management research and planning should put the state at the forefront of this effort.

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