Vilsack Discusses Bioproducts Shown at Showcase

Weekly column by Agriculture Secretary Thomas Vilsack:

Today, small businesses and global companies alike have harnessed the power of America’s farms to create new biobased products that are used all around the world. 

Everything from cleaning products to packing peanuts originates in rural America, and the potential to create even more new products derived from the crops grown in rural America is nearly limitless.

Yesterday, I visited the first-ever Bioproducts World Showcase, hosted by the Ohio Bioproducts Innovation Center at Ohio State University. At the Showcase, I had the opportunity to see the latest and greatest in cutting edge innovation in the bioeconomy and speak with leaders across the bioeconomy about emerging opportunities and challenges in the bioeconomy.

In conjunction with the event, USDA also released a new report, titled Why Biobased?. The report is a precursor for a more comprehensive economic study to be released in the coming months that will capture the full economic impact of the biobased products industry in the United States.

Results from the new report show that the potential for future growth in the bioeconomy is significant. For example, two-thirds of the total volume of chemicals — more than 50,000 products and a $1 trillion annual global market — could be produced from biobased material. 

Recognizing this, many companies are forging ahead with the integration of biobased products into their market and product development design strategies. Estimates indicate that U.S.-based jobs for the renewable chemicals sector alone will rise from about 40,000 jobs in 2011, which represents 3 percent to 4 percent of all chemical sales, to over 237,000 jobs by 2025. 

This employment level would represent approximately 20% of total chemical sales.

The expanding bioeconomy means more than just additional choices for customers or new growth opportunities for companies along the supply chain — it also means new jobs. For example, shifting just 20 percent of the current plastics produced into bioplastics could create about 104,000 jobs. 

The U.S. Office of Science and Technology has projected that the economic growth associated with just one application – cellulose nanomaterials in the paper industry – could create as many as 425,000 jobs in the U.S. by 2020. Potential applications of nanocellulose particles include recyclable electronics, biobased plastics, paper and packaging materials with improved surfaces, flexible cement, automotive and aircraft components, and protective armor.

USDA has supported the growth of the bioeconomy through a variety of efforts. 

For example, our BioPreferred program, designed to help companies market biobased products, is now featured on more than 1,940 products sold in stores across the country. The 2014 Farm Bill expanded the BioPreferred program to include mature market wood products and other materials. 

Companies in more than 40 countries on six continents are now participating in the BioPreferred program. Under President Obama, the Federal Government has prioritized these biobased products for procurement and use. 

Later this week, USDA will launch a new prize competition for developers, institutions, organizations and design teams competing to demonstrate the architectural and commercial viability of using sustainable wood products in high-rise construction. 

The competition will help spur increased sustainability in construction and will give priority to applicants that source materials from rural domestic manufacturers and domestic, sustainably-managed forests.

These are some of the many ways USDA is helping to revitalize the economy and create jobs in small towns across America. Collectively, these efforts help to support an innovative biobased economy in rural America, which supports agriculture, helps reduce our dependence on oil and ultimately creates job opportunities and supports economic development in rural America.

New York State Wood Energy Team Receives Federal Money

Submitted by Kara Lynn Dunn:

On July 15, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the New York State Wood Energy Team, led by the Empire State Forestry Foundation with support from the New York Biomass Energy Alliance, as one of 11 teams receiving cooperative agreements from the USDA Forest Service.  
 
In New York, the Forest Service funding of $250,000, which leverages additional state and private investment, will be used to develop and hold workshops to provide technical, financial and environmental information; offer preliminary engineering assessments; and conduct community outreach needed to support the development of wood energy projects.
 
Successful applications for projects will receive technical assistance to access additional financing for design and construction from the Forest Service, the USDA, and the New York State Green Bank, among other sources.  
 
‘The investment from the Forest Service will allow for a substantial outreach and education campaign that will support the existing bioenergy industry and New York State programs, such as Renewable Heat NY, by raising awareness and understanding of this local, affordable, renewable source of energy,’ says Alice Brumbach, executive administrator of the New York Biomass Energy Alliance. ’

"The New York State Wood Energy Team of dedicated and talented individuals from across the state and region will be working very hard over the next three years to move bioenergy to a mainstream renewable energy option for New Yorkers," she said.    
 
The New York State Wood Energy Team will begin its outreach and education campaign over the next few months in the Catskill Region, the North Country and the Southern Tier.  Contact Alice Brumbach for more information on how you can become involved. 
 
In addition to the Empire State Forestry Foundation and the New York Biomass Energy Alliance, the New York State Wood Energy Team consists of the Adirondack North Country Association, Catskill Forest Association, Clarkson University, Farm Credit East, Mesa Reduction Engineering & Processing, NYS Department of Environmental Conservation, Northern Forest Center, Richmond Energy Associates, Rick Handley & Associates, Southern Tier East Regional Planning Development Board, SUNY College of Environmental Science & Forestry, Tompkins County Cornell Cooperative Extension, and Yellow Wood Associates.  
 
The advisory board to the New York State Wood Energy Team includes the New York Farm Viability Institute, NYS Department of Ag & Markets, NY Farm Bureau, New York State Wood Products Development Council, Finger Lakes National Forest, and USDA Forest Service. 
 
To see the full list of states receiving Statewide Wood Energy Team cooperative agreements from the Forest Service, go to http://www.fs.fed.us/na/grants/index.shtml.

USDA Researchers Come Up With Handy Innovations

I found this to be really cool. I hope you do too.

The USDA has issued a new report scientific breakthroughs discovered by USDA researchers that led to new patents and inventions with the potential for commercial application and potential economic growth. 

Innovations included in the report range from flour made out of chardonnay grape seeds that prevents weight gain to antimicrobial packets that keep food from spoiling, efforts to protect U.S. troops in Iraq from diseases carried by sand flies, new processes for turning grass clippings and raked leaves into bioenergy, and many more.

"Studies have shown that every dollar invested in agricultural research returns $20 to the economy. We have accelerated commercialization of federal research and government researchers are working closely with the private sector to develop new technology and transfer it to the marketplace," said Ag Secretary Thomas Vilsack. "USDA has a proven track record of performing research that benefits the public."

USDA reports receiving 51 patents, filing 147 patent applications, and disclosing 180 new inventions in the last fiscal year, which are detailed in the Department's 2013 Annual Report on Technology Transfer released last week.

Helping drive these innovations, USDA has 259 active Cooperative Research and Development Agreements with outside investigators, which includes Universities and other organizations, including 117 with small businesses. The USDA's technology transfer program is administered by the Agricultural Research Service (ARS), USDA's principal intramural scientific research agency.

Discoveries from USDA's 2013 Technology Transfer Report include:

• A new kind of flour made from chardonnay grape seeds that can prevent increases in cholesterol and weight-gain (the Mayo Clinic is currently conducting human clinical trials on the product);
• New ways to turn lawn clippings and tree leaves from cities into bioenergy;
• An enzyme compound that can be used to develop insecticides to combat sand flies, a disease spreading insect that poses a major problem for U.S. military in Iraq and is responsible for hundreds of thousands of childhood deaths in Africa;
• A computer-based model of the fluid milk process to lower greenhouse gas emissions (the model has been distributed to more than 100 processors in the United States and should help the dairy industry realize its goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent per gallon of milk by 2020);
• Oat concentrates, a digestible, functional food from oats licensed for the production of Calorie-Trim and Nutrim;
• A new process for turning old tires into zinc fertilizer;
• A handheld device that uses gold nanoparticles to detect West Nile virus (and potentially other diseases) in blood samples;
• Window cleaners that use a biodegradable solution of nanoparticles that prevent water-beading that are superior to current cleaners;
• A small packet that when inserted in small fruit containers releases an antimicrobial vapor that helps keep fresh fruit from rotting on the shelf.

Over the years, USDA innovations have created all sorts of products Americans use every days, from cosmetics, to insect controls, leathers, shampoos, and of course food products. Here are just a few examples of things USDA research is responsible for:

• Frozen orange juice concentrate;
• "Permanent press" cotton clothing;
• Mass production of penicillin in World War II;
• Almost all breeds of blueberries and cranberries currently in production, and 80% of all varieties of citrus fruits grown in the U.S.;
• "Tifsport", a turf used on NFL, collegiate, and other sports fields across the country, specifically designed to withstand the stress and demands of major team sports. Tifsport is also used on PGA and other golf course fairways, while its sister turf, "Tifeagle", specially designed to be mowed to one-tenth of an inch daily, is used on PGA putting greens.

The 2014 Farm Bill will help to build on these accomplishments by establishing a new Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research that leverages $200 million in public funding and another $200 million from the private sector to support groundbreaking agricultural research.