Sugar cane has "enormous potential for green chemistry"
Despite sugar cane being one of the world's most important agricultural crops, it is surprising to see how little research there actually is on the plant's biochemistry and the applications its molecules could bring. Only now, with the advent of the concepts of 'biorefineries' and 'green chemistry', scientists are beginning to focus attention on this potential. With high oil prices, alternatives for petro-chemicals are being sought, urgently, and sugar cane might bring us a far way.
Surprisingly, top work is coming from the tiny Indian Ocean island of Réunion, where researchers from the Centre d’Essai, de Recherche et de Formation pour la Canne à Sucre (CERF), are working on a program aimed at valorising the many interesting molecules contained in sugar cane. According to Laurent Corcodel, who is leading the research, "these molecules have an enormous potential as building blocks for organic chemistry aimed at displacing countless petro-chemical products". The program is part of the island's ambitious target of building a first biorefinery in the next four years, that will produce bio-plastics, detergents, tinctures, drugs, glues, gels, and even bio-polymers resembling nylon from which clothes can be made... all from the humble grass known as sugar cane.
Leading the list of interesting molecules is aconitic acid (C6H6O6), a white, crystalline organic acid abundantly found in sugar cane. Laurent Corcodel:
Even though Reunion's sugar farmers are already tapping the opportunity brought about by the ethanol industry, the government decided to phase out all subsidies to make the sector more competitive. This new diversification adds to the optimism for the cane growers. "It is true that the planters will lose their subsidies in 2014, but new valorisations make up for this loss. The industrialists are really looking out for diversification, and we are bringing it to them", Corcodel adds.
Sugar cane, the humble grass, is thus rapidly becoming an extremely versatile crop: vinasses, juice, fibres, molasses, bagasses and specialty molecules, - the cane can be used to make plastics, liquid fuel, feed, food, fibre, even paper, furniture and clothes. "People have been talking about green chemistry for years, but now the work is really starting. High oil prices and the prospect of depleting resources have opened a new era", affirms William Hoareau, who works for the CERF, analysing the potential uses of bagasse.
More information:
Surprisingly, top work is coming from the tiny Indian Ocean island of Réunion, where researchers from the Centre d’Essai, de Recherche et de Formation pour la Canne à Sucre (CERF), are working on a program aimed at valorising the many interesting molecules contained in sugar cane. According to Laurent Corcodel, who is leading the research, "these molecules have an enormous potential as building blocks for organic chemistry aimed at displacing countless petro-chemical products". The program is part of the island's ambitious target of building a first biorefinery in the next four years, that will produce bio-plastics, detergents, tinctures, drugs, glues, gels, and even bio-polymers resembling nylon from which clothes can be made... all from the humble grass known as sugar cane.
Leading the list of interesting molecules is aconitic acid (C6H6O6), a white, crystalline organic acid abundantly found in sugar cane. Laurent Corcodel:
Aconitic acid has never before been used on an industrial scale [unlike lactic acid, a building bloc for polylactic acid from which bioplastics are made]. Its potential is great, though. It has the same characteristics as certain molecules derived from petroleum that are used for a variety of products.The €700,000 program lasts four years and has now entered the phase where concrete applications are sought, after fundamental research showed the potentially interesting molecules and ways to extract them. The current goal is to build a mini-refinery before the year 2010, and then to build Reunion's first fully-functional biorefinery.
Since the molecule is so versatile, we can work in a systematic manner: first we decide which products we want to make, then we work out the technical procedures. In all likeliness we will start by manufacturing tensio-actifs (a kind of specialty glue), but it could just as well be bioplastics. Whichever products we make, one thing is certain: our biorefinery will reduce the importance of petrochemistry and shift the future towards green chemistry.
Even though Reunion's sugar farmers are already tapping the opportunity brought about by the ethanol industry, the government decided to phase out all subsidies to make the sector more competitive. This new diversification adds to the optimism for the cane growers. "It is true that the planters will lose their subsidies in 2014, but new valorisations make up for this loss. The industrialists are really looking out for diversification, and we are bringing it to them", Corcodel adds.
Sugar cane, the humble grass, is thus rapidly becoming an extremely versatile crop: vinasses, juice, fibres, molasses, bagasses and specialty molecules, - the cane can be used to make plastics, liquid fuel, feed, food, fibre, even paper, furniture and clothes. "People have been talking about green chemistry for years, but now the work is really starting. High oil prices and the prospect of depleting resources have opened a new era", affirms William Hoareau, who works for the CERF, analysing the potential uses of bagasse.
More information:
- Clicanoo: La Réunion se lance dans la chimie verte, August 29, 2006
- Clicanoo: "La canne a un potentiel énorme en chimie", August 29, 2006
- Centre d'Etude, de Recherche et de Formation, homepage.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home