Location: Renewable Product Technology Research
Project Number: 5010-30600-003-000-D
Project Type: In-House Appropriated
Start Date: Apr 27, 2025
End Date: Apr 26, 2030
Objective:
The goal of this proposed research is to enhance economic viability and competitiveness of U.S. agricultural by developing new technologies to convert agricultural crops into high value, biobased consumer products. Project team members will collaborate with other ARS researchers and external partners to achieve the following objectives:
Objective 1: Develop efficient chemocatalytic processes that lead to consumer goods and industrial chemicals from agricultural feedstocks and fermentation products.
Objective 2: Develop biochemical and physical methods to produce commercially viable bioproducts from commodity crop oils, plant lipids, carbohydrates, and lignocellulosic biomass.
Approach:
This project will develop innovative chemical conversions, biochemical processes, and physical methods to transform biorefinery products (e.g. ethanol), agricultural waste streams, vegetable oils, carbohydrates, and polysaccharides into high value commodities. The new bioproducts will be characterized for suitability, efficacy, and use in polymer manufacturing (e.g. plastics, coating and rubber), surfactants (e.g. detergents and antimicrobial compounds), food packaging, and personal care ingredients/products. Production efficiency will be optimized and performance compared to existing products and technologies to ensure that bioproducts have equivalent or superior properties to commercially available products. Researchers will work closely with industrial partners, stakeholders, and customers to ensure that these goals are compatible with market needs and to facilitate commercialization of these products.
This approach will enable greater economic returns to U.S. agricultural producers by increasing demand and market price for their crops, expanding the use of these commodities into non-traditional markets and expanding domestic and export markets. In addition, this work will contribute to the growing consumer demand for “green” or “clean labeling” of consumer products.
